Cloud Age Symphony
by slexenskee
Summary: Naturally, Uzumaki Naruto chose the more complicated part of being a sealing master: time travelling. Which is exactly why he's mastered it and is trying his hardest not to mess anything up. And also naturally, nothing is going to plan. Sequel up.
1. After Dark

_Hello, time travel story here! Don't we love them all, though?_

* * *

Naruto surmised that the reason no one ever took him seriously clearly had to do with his unastounding height of five six. If he was any taller, certainly people would take him more seriously. As a ninja, and as a person—though invariably, he'd ruined the latter of the two through his notorious and infamous pranks in his youth. It wasn't that he was particularly small, though if he was like Kakashi he could lean forebodingly over his opponents. With the looming, imperious look Jiraiya was stunning him with now as he towered over the young apprentice, he certainly looked the part.

Jiraiya still, since the two had trekked up the hill that morning, continued his deep and uninterrupted monologue on the variables of sealing that Naruto had already learned, had never found a use for, or just plain were never in use to begin with. The blonde had attempted an intervention twice, each of the times had the young shinobi hazarding a round kick to the face and a furthering of the winded, one-sided conversation.

"This is very dangerous, Naruto." He pattered on, as he had been all morning. "You could get severely hurt—or worse! Damage the entire fate of the world by messing up and opening your goddamn mouth—

"Jeez, Jiraiya!" Naruto interrupted, and ducked the swing he knew was coming. "You've been talking in circles all morning! Can't we get a move on?"

There was a supremely dangerous look to the old Sannin's face. "A _move on_? Clearly, Naruto, we can't, if you're not taking this serious enough and have enough energy to pick your ear when you should be devoting all of it to _listening_!"

Guiltlessly, the blonde popped his index out of his said hearing appendage, before yawning unceremoniously. "Yeesh." He muttered to himself. "Come on you old pervert, we've been studying this for months. I get it already!"

"You don't! That's the point! You're about to do something that hasn't—and shouldn't—ever been done before!"

"But I'm doing it anyways, right?"

The Sannin wore a look of clear anger and exasperation. There was nothing that would sky rocket his blood pressure more then a kid with a mulish head and a bravery streak a mile wide, who wanted nothing more then to prove himself. And he'd had his fair share of those. Though Naruto was different then Nagoto, Yahiko, or Konan. And not just because he was Minato's son.

He was the first to truly grasp such a complex concept so naturally, and there was a strange mixture of pride and anxiety he got like a blow to the gut each time he thought of the boy. There was a feeling of satisfaction that welled in his stomach when he thought of how far Naruto had come—and yet dually, it warred with the constant threat of how easily this could destroy the last vestige of Minato he'd ever have.

Mostly though, Jiraiya just wished Naruto would understand how precautious he should be when it came to this sealing business. It certainly wasn't the most blunt of art, and Naruto, if anything, was a tactless, blunt kind of guy.

"Yes, you are." Jiraiya supposed with a sigh. "But really, you have to be careful. I won't always be here to check your seals for mistakes, brat."

"I know!" Though in retrospect, the blonde would come to realize he really hadn't, in any sense of the word. But for now, he was under the complete impression that whatever life, and in this case, sealing, could throw at him he'd take it like a man and throw it back in its face.

"See!" The gray-haired sage waved wildly, smacking the blonde upside the head before he could dodge. "You're just saying that, if you did—

Jiraiya pointed out a mistake in graphing near the center left of the glowing blue seal.

—then you would have noticed that you misplaced this fracture. It's suppose to be three units to the right."

Naruto groaned, bending down with an ink pot to fix the mistake, careful not to smudge the characters on the paper.

He finished the line of characters, rolling on his heals to study it with a bored expression. "Gah! What does it matter anyway?"

Jiraiya swapped him on the back of the head again, for good measure, sending him toppling into the grass. "It matters gaki! This is just a simple mistake—maybe change your hair green—but what if it was in the center graph? You could botch the entire thing! Move your spleen to your lungs!"

"But its not!"

"But what if it was?"

"What's with all the 'what if's? I'm _fine_."

Clearly Naruto's inability to see reason would win over his brain every time. Jiraiya slapped his forehead.

Of all the genius seal-makers in the world, of all the hard work and determination, skill and luck, this boy just didn't understand. He sucked techniques like a vacuum, but precautions went out the window. Jiraiya begrudgingly thought it had something to do with Kyuubi. The fox simply patched the boy up no matter what happened. Naruto broke his spine? Oh, well, fix it in a matter of seconds.

Jiraiya tried a different approach. "I know that you're a bit reckless Naruto, and I'm aware that, for some unfathomable reason, it's seemed to work pretty good for you in the past. But one of these days that's all gonna catch up to you—you gotta think things through, ya know? Really take the time to learn everything—even all the, 'what if's'—cause one of these days they'll really bite you in the ass!"

Naruto huffed, though his eyes were wide and understanding. "I _know_, you old Sennin. You act like I still run around and paint the Hokage mountain in neons, piss of Iruka-sensei and get into fights I know I can't win. I'm not like that anymore!"

Jiraiya wanted to point out that the latter of the three had already been done, this morning in fact, but refrained. Instead, he sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Fine. Do a once over."

Naruto's grin split his face.

He won.

So he turned around and began to check his seal, currently glowing a brilliant shade of blinding blue. There were four parts, the center (and the most important) the two flanking at the top and two at the bottom. Each were circular in pattern. Each contained so many little details that looking at it to check made his head spin. Sealing graphs were like math equations and languages.

It made his head spin.

"Have you looked? Made sure? _Everything's _in order?"

If Naruto hadn't known any better, he'd have thought Jiraiya was just being a cranky, impatient old man. But he was aware that everything Jiraiya had done this morning, from struggling up the hill to painting the seals had been carried with tense undertone of nervousness. Nervousness, for him.

"Yeah." The blond nodded. "I looked."

The Sannin stepped forward to inspect the graphs himself.

It only took a matter of seconds.

"Fifteen graphs to the right, center fold. You messed up. The units are supposed to be translated from the right, not the left."

Naruto made a noise of frustration—whether at Jiraiya for being so quick about it, or for himself for making the mistake in the first place, one would never know—taking an ink and quill and redoing it on the rice paper. He tried to be careful not to ruin it.

"Watch it!" Jiraiya barked as he strayed too far to the left.

"Gah!" Naruto jumped, nearly spraying the ink all over the paper.

It wasn't working, however.

"Look, kid." Jiraiya began irately. "Fix the smudge in the right translation-no your other right!-And then double back to the left and fic the one near the upper right corner."

Naruto grumbled in response, settling in to a more comfortable position to paint. After fixing most of the errors until the seal was near perfection, Jiraiya paced relentlessly back and forth with vigor. Sending furtive glances to the seal, and then to the ground, he made Naruto nervous. The seal was perfect already! What more did it need? He thought Jiraiya was just being overly worrying.

"Hello?" Naruto waved a hand. "Can I go yet?"

"NO!"

Naruto pulled away, frowning.

Jiraiya began to pace again, this time in a circular motion.

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No!"

…

"…Now?"

"God_damnit_!" Jiraiya cursed, looking ready to breath fire. "If you keep acting like a whiny, immature Gennin I'll kick you out right now and burn this paper to ashes!"

Naruto opened his mouth. "Wha—hey—

—_Silence._"

And promptly snapped it shut.

Then the pacing began anew, the man changing the patterns depending on his thought. Sideways, in circles, in long weavy lines, until finally Jiraiya became unoriginal and just paced in a straight line. Naruto watched him with a frown, looking quite sullen. He'd been waiting for _months_ for this opportunity, and Jiraiya looked halfway to blowing the whole project up and calling it a day. But the blonde had put too much time, effort, and hope into the finalization of this seal that he'd be more then a bit dismayed if Jiraiya called it quits. In fact, he'd probably just do it himself, to hell with all the chances.

And then finally…. _finally, _he sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

"Okay. Go."

Naruto jumped in his joy. Pouncing onto his glowing seals and began his long set of hand seals.

"Make sure to be cautious! Don't go around telling anyone who you are, and for christ's sake, especially not your heritage! Even if they're familiar faces, remember that once wrong word and you may mess up the whole future! Remember the ninja code! Keep your guard up! Trust no one, you hear me? _Trust no one—_

The sealing paper began to heat, the seals lighting in the most brilliant shade of blue Naruto had ever seen, ascending into the sky at an alarming rate and burning a glow of azure around the delighted blonde.

He looked up to his teacher, whose eyes were wide and frightened, but imploring.

"See ya, Ero-sennin!"

The glow of the seals shot to the sky, before they faded into a wispy charcoal black on the rice paper.

Jiraiya stared at it with a mix of emotions, the wind fluttering on the top of the hill, making the edges of the paper lift a bit.

Then, he sighed. "He better not screw this up."

.

.

—x—

.

.

Naruto felt like someone just hit him on the back of the head with a large, tin object.

Then realized someone had.

A watering can, in fact.

He'd been conscious for about a half a second and was halfway into a sitting position before the preemptive strike collided with the bottom half of his brain, and successfully toppled him face first into the dirt. The blonde groaned and attempted to wiggle his hands out from underneath him to feel for the blow, in the process eating more dirt then he'd have liked.

Behind him, he heard a shocked gasp.

"Sensei! I think I might've hit him!" And then, with emphasis; "On _accident_."

Accident his ass, Naruto thought to himself as he pulled himself up in an attempt to see his assailant.

He saw nothing of what he assumed was a whiny little girl, though his face was met with the _largest _watermelon he'd ever seen. In his life. If his head was the size of the moon then this thing had to be twice the size of the earth. He sat straighter, only to realize that every other watermelon in the patch resembled this one in bust and length. Dotting the horizon was a small farmhouse.

Naruto was pretty sure they didn't even make them this large anymore.

Great, he probably crash-landed in the middle of nowhere—probably a desert. Probably Suna. Instead, he was met with the view of an enormous city, the infamous Konoha Gates looming in the distance, just as he remembered them.

And before them, something even more familiar.

"Hit him with what?" A snide voice replied. "Your nonexistent breasts?"

"You _moron_!"

Ah. And apparently the watering can just hit someone else's head.

The girl with the disturbing face turned around again, a curious expression to her. "So uh, sorry about that. But, uh… what _are _you doing, anyway?"

Her hair was short and swung up on her head in a small ponytail, canting her hip, watering can at her side. Her brown eyes were big and blinked down at him in curiosity. It was the face though, which completed the picture.

TSUNADE!

He gaped, and then sputtered.

And then tried not to scream.

"Is something wrong, Tsunade-chan?" Came a voice in mild vexation, as if things tended to go wrong quite frequently.

The girl spun around quickly, voice sheepish. "Not really, Sensei!" And with a brief glance to Naruto, "There was a boy sleeping in the watermelon patch, though."

The man came into view.

Naruto blinked.

Oh god.

Oh _god_.

The Sandaime Hokage.

Young.

Sarutobi gave him a familiarly pleasant smile. "Oh? And who might you be?"

"Uh—" Naruto began, with varying degrees of panic rising in his voice. "Err—uhm…"

And with frightening clarity came Jiraiya's voice; _Trust no one!_

"I—I…"

Naruto sputtered some more.

The Sandaime was patient, however, and only nodded and waited.

"I—"

Tsunade and a morbidly younger version of Jiraiya leaned closer with equal interest.

"Well, I—

Orochimaru, who had continued to water the plants with admirable diligence throughout all of this, turned to look with what could have been a vague amount of interest.

Naruto took in a breath, and then;

"I think I have amnesia." He finished lamely.

"Oh." Came Sandaime's equally lame retaliation.

"Oh!" Tsunade perked up suddenly with a gush. "Amnesia is when someone forgets something for a short period of time! I read about it in my medical book-sometimes it can last for minutes, sometimes for years and years and—

"Wow breast-less." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "_Everyone _knows that."

"Shut up!"

He was sent flying.

"I'm going to be a medic-nin! What're you going to do with your pathetic life?"

"I'm gonna be a super pervert!"

SMACK!

Jiraiya landed somewhere on the other side of the farm, near the legumes.

Naruto watched them with amusement, but faint nostalgia. It almost hurt to look at them, so naïve and happy. Even Orochimaru, the creep he was, seemed to have an air of… immaturity, to him. An innocence that would be lost quite quickly in the future. Naruto could recall days like this in his own past, with a bouncy Sakura and an impassive, but inwardly bemused Sasuke.

And that hurt to think of more then anything.

As a dull ache of remorse shot through him, Sarutobi spoke up again.

"This sounds serious." He mused, though there was a twinkle in his eye. "Perhaps we should escort you to the hospital, young man?" He inquired.

"Oh no!" Naruto backtracked quickly. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll probably just… uh… walk around and see if anything will spark my memory.

"An admirable idea." The Sandaime smiled.

He found his eyes unintentionally straying to Orochimaru, who was somewhat far off, still watering the plants. At this age, it was hard to tell him apart from any other genius asshole that Konoha seemed to crap out with a vengence, and he could sort of see how Orochimaru had so easily flown under the radar for so many years. Though the thought did not sit well with him.

He hoisted himself up, as Sarutobi gravitated towards his Gennin, apparently lecturing to them about the importance of teamwork. Tsunade was grumbling, and Jiraiya was whining vocally, and Naruto could have laughed at the ironic, repetitive circles the world worked in.

Figuring he'd spent enough time in this particular era, and more then enough for his first journey, he hunted around for a secure place to build his seal.

He was on the outskirts of Konoha, so probably somewhere around here was a good place to start.

He hurried to the back of the farmhouse and Sandaime continuted to lecture his bemoaning students, passing cluster of trees and delving a bit further into the forest. He rummaged around for his rice paper after finding suitable clearing, and began to ruminate on how, exactly, he'd be getting back to his time. Jiraiya had briefly mentioned (read; labored over for hours) something about switching the left and right intervals.

Naruto blinked

"Awh… shit."

He didn't remember.

He dived for his backpack, lying behind him with all his sealing supplies and a copy of _Sealing: For Dummies, _which was probably his only hope at this point, even though it had absolutely nothing on time travel.

He hoisted the big tome of sealing charts, skipping to the more fishy section with much more theory and probability. His heart thrummed as his reality caught up to him. This was the first time anyone had sealed to the past—purposefully. And as of now, he was going to be the first to ever get back, too. It was like one big adventure, the biggest adventure of his life and probably at this point the coolest. The only thing in his memory that compared was the Wave Mission gone wrong back when they were all Gennin. Of course, he didn't do cool things back then like _time travel_, but it was cool for Gennin to get an A-Class Mission like that.

"Let's see… so you _do _switch the intervals…"

So he completed his seal in the clearing, the foliage not exactly aiding him as the huge canopy of leaves kept dappling the light. It must've been around dusk, because the light was getting poorer. He wondered—as he flipped another page and began to ready his ink—what season it was. He wasn't exactly a farmer so he wasn't sure what season watermelons grew, but he was thinking it was either spring or summer, so the lighting shouldn't be _this _bad.

"Oh! Hey!" Startled by the loud voice, Naruto almost dropped his book into the ink pot. He shrieked and dived for the book just in time, though, and managed to salvage the ink. He sent a dark look to the area the voice came from.

"You're the dude Tsunade hit with her watering can!" Jiraiya pointed out unnecessarily.

"Gah!" Jiraiya gaped at the glowing seal, jaw hitting the floor and eyes bulging.

"Wh—_oa_! You made this? This—this is totally ballin'!"

The younger version of Jiraiya fluttered around the seal with pure amazement, a bit like a social butterfly. He kept pointing out different parts of the seal—the easier parts—and saying how he knew all about them. Naruto sighed. This boy was _such _a nerd. A perverted nerd. And thinking of how perverted and nerdy (writing porn novels and spying on naked women? Naruto wasn't sure if that was perverted or nerdy or _both_) the Jiraiya of his time was, he knew this boy wasn't going to get any better.

"Yeah, this is mine."

Jiraiya blinked. "I've been studying seals for ages! Sensei won't teach me any because he thinks their too dangerous and we don't know much about them but I want to be a sealing master!"

Naruto resisted the urge to laugh. "Yeah that's great twerp." He waved the kid off. "Now why don't you—

But Jiraiya began to bounce. "I've gotta tell Sensei—

"Hey!" Naruto pulled him back. "You can't tell your Sensei."

"Why not?" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows. "Are you a _criminal_?"

Naruto groaned. "No, but I don't want to alert anyone that a sealing master is here—

—you're a sealing master?" Came the breathless, amazed interruption.

Well shit. There goes his cover.

Naruto leaned down, suddenly proud of the fact he was actually taller than someone, to the young Jiraiya, currently pouting and crossing his arms like the twelve-year old boy he was in this time line.

"I'll teach you the ultimate of all ultimate techniques, if you keep your mouth shut about this."

Jiraiya nodded, making gestures about zipping his lips and throwing away the lock.

Naruto grinned. "Okay, watch this."

There was a pause, filled with the flurry of hand seals, and then;

"Orioke no Jutsu!"

A busty blonde with bigger assets than the future Tsunade had began to make kissy noises at Jiraiya… who promptly held back a nose bleed. Yes, this would definitely keep the young silver-haired boy quiet for most of his life.

Naruto's clone dispersed in a plume of smoke, leaving a starry-eyed Jiraiya in its wake. "That was… the coolest, most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Naruto nodded. "Great. Now run along."

Jiraiya gave him an ecstatic wave, before scurrying off back to his team.

Naruto sighed. Damn. He still had a whole other translation to do until he could go back, and the light was already fading. That whole Jiraiya thing must've taken about half an hour or so, and he no longer had much sunlight to work with. But, he supposed, a Katon Jutsu wasn't too hard. He looked around the dense brambles and the trees that loomed over him... Konoha was _known_ for its trees and wood life, honestly, where were the twigs?

After much hunting, he gathered the twigs in a pile, and snapped his fingers, a light burning faintly between them where chakra pulsed into the air.

Naruto grinned triumphantly. "There we go—

"I saw that."

Ah damn. Another one.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he stood to his full height, the shadows from he fire casting long flickering shadows onto his face.

Orochimaru emerged from the shadows, almost ethereal paleness framed by the firelight. There was something dark and tenebrous in his eyes, even at this age. It was almost… disturbing, and Naruto shivered. It'd be so easy to end it all, right now. He knew that'd only mess everything up further, so he opted to just glare heatedly at him.

His golden eyes looked bright and eerie in the lighting. Inhuman, almost. "You made fire. Without hand seals."

Naruto's eyes were chilling. "What of it?"

The gaze went back to him, an intense look to it. "How did you do it?"

Naruto snorted. "Like I'm gonna teach you."

Orochimaru frowned—Naruto thought it too sick to actually call it a pout, because that did not bode well at _all—_and crossed his arms over his weird kimono he wore. "You taught the dobe that insufferable technique."

"You saw that?" Naruto laughed. No wonder there was a little bit of dried blood under his nose.

"Teach me."

"No way." Naruto growled, swiveling around.

Deciding Orochimaru wasn't enough of a threat in his current state, he went back to graphing the glowing seals. Orochimaru watched intently with those sickly golden eyes of his. Naruto knew he hadn't done anything yet...but he couldn't help it. God, just the fact that Orochimaru was standing not even ten feet from his and he could kill him at _any _moment made his fingers twitch uncontrollably.

"What are those seals for?"

"Stop asking questions."

"Are you trying to invade us?"

…

Orochimaru scowled. "Are you?" He asked again.

"No!" Hypocrite. Naruto wanted to point out to him, but the young snake hadn't done anything criminal yet. Yet.

"Then what are they for?"

Groaning, Naruto finally looked up, an annoyed look etched into his face. "Shut up, will you? This takes concentration."

His face showed anger, but he kept his mouth shut, watching intently as Naruto painted more of the seals. The fire crackled in the distance, the shadows dancing in its wake and small sparks shot off like shooting stars. His yellow eyes shifted from the blond who was squatting down and graphing more seals on his array, to the fire that roared in quiet rage next to the boy, painting light in odd angles. Naruto didn't have to turn around to know that something had caught Orochimaru's interest, just the fact that he had went quiet was enough.

"Will you teach me?"

"Don't you have a Sensei?" Naruto retorted.

Orochimaru frowned. "He doesn't teach us anything."

There was an undertone to his voice that made Naruto's spine go rigid. Was he under the impression that nothing Sarutobi taught them was useful? Was that one of the reasons for his decent into madness (though Naruto could argue the guy was just a crazy fuck to begin with) But even if he did teach the boy something absolutely pointless and stupid, would it help any? And Jiraiya did say not to mess anything up… Gah. Whatever, he'd teach him something stupid and pointless that the boy would think was amazing. Just like younger Jiraiya except...that it wouldn't be a pretty blond girl dancing around with enormous boobs.

"Okay, gather chakra into your fingers."

It was hard to see if Orochimaru was doing that, but the snake nodded.

"Now snap them."

A little pitiful flame sparked for a moment above his two fingers, and the young criminal-to-be widened his eyes.

Well, at least the seal was done now.

Orochimaru was still gaping at his fingers, so Naruto took this as a perfect moment to high-tail it out of here. He stepped into the paper quickly just as the seals flashed a bright blue, shooting into the night sky like stars. Then, nothing was left except for charcoal black seals that were burnt until it was impossible read them, and a still gaping Orochimaru, whether from the seals or from the lame fire technique it was unknown.

.

.

—x—

.

.

"Chakra exhaustion?"

"I hope so."

"He's not dead though, right?"

"You _moron_!"

"Ouch! Damn woman…"

Naruto sat upright so quickly he almost tumbled head first down the hill. His eyes were wide and frightened as the enormous sky seemed to be upon him completely, large and overpowering, until he gripped the grass beneath him until it ripped right off. He crashed back into reality with a shuddering gasp, taking in the dotting white flowers amongst the hillside, the ravine some meters away, and Konoha's walls in the faint distance.

He looked up to see Tsunade successfully smack Jiraiya upside the head.

He laughed in irony.

Some things didn't change.

"You're awake." Tsunade nodded, lowering her hand. There was evident relief in her eyes. "How was your trip?"

"I couldn't do anything." Naruto muttered. "You guys were on some lame D-Class mission and I…"

"Don't." Jiraiya cut in. "Even if he was there, and vulnerable, it could have messed everything out of proportion."

"I know." Naruto nodded solemnly.

With a smirk, Jiraiya clapped his hands. "Okay, we'll continue next week. You're too exhausted to do much else."

Getting up, and feeling the ground eagerly rush to meet him, Naruto agreed. It took a few moments to stabilize, but afterwards, all he could feel was a great eagerness. Even if Sasuke was still under Orochimaru, and Akatsuki still loomed dangerously in the backdrop, he had found something he was good at. Something only _he _could do.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

_Ah, a wait has been lifted off my shoulders! My muses fault. Review?_


	2. Blue Train

_Augh. _

* * *

Naruto stretched his hands over his head, looking like he was about to finally lumber out of bed—this was the fifth attempt this morning—before, after a moment of deliberation, he flopped back onto bed. This was the first time he'd been able to sleep in for a couple months, and he was going to relish it, and prolong it for as long as he could. His head had been pounding since the middle of the night, and he was hoping that maybe he could sleep it off. His entire body ached, and he felt as if he'd been on death's door for the majority of the week, though in actuality, he'd spent the most of it sleeping.

Eventually though, the sun managed to oust him completely, as not even his shut blinds could fully keep it out. Running a hand through his unruly mussed hair he rummaged through his closet with bleary, sleep-eyes, scouring its depth for something that wasn't colorful. Which was a feat in itself.

He pried out an old, wrinkly dark shirt to wear over his mesh-quarter sleeve, pulling on shinobi cargo pants and was about to reach for his hitai-ate, when he realized he'd put them all on inside out. After redoing his attire, he mused whether perhaps he should tell Jiraiya that today might not be such a great idea.

Maybe he should tell Jiraiya he wasn't ready…?

Nah.

Naruto could handle anything that came his way, whether thirteen years in the past or not.

"Naruto? Are you in there?"

Sakura-chan's voice was coming from the other side of his apartment door. Pulling pants on and stumbling into his hallway, he unlocked it. She stepped in with a bit of a frosty air to her demeanor; and Naruto immediately cringed. He did something… didn't he? One look in her eyes told him that yes; he did something very, very, stupid.

There was silence.

"I heard."

"Heard what?" Naruto fidgeted. He hated silence. It brought back bad memories.

"Jiraiya told me." Her eyes were throwing kunai at him.

He blinked, gripping his hallway table. "He…did?"

"Yeah." She nodded, crossing arms over her chest. "He was very vague, but he said something about you and…

Sakura was searching his eyes for something; he made sure to blink slowly.

"…some sort of sealing."

"Ah!" He scratched the back of his head. "Did he really? Yeah! I'm starting one of the way cooler chapters now! Not just turning leaves into grass and that stuff. Actually, you know, I was supposed to meet him today—

"I understand Naruto." Sakura said softly. "That you might not come back."

"And he was—Huh?" The blond sputtered.

"Jiraiya-sama had said something about how dangerous it was… and you might not make it back."

Naruto looked at her fondly, an odd mixture of a smile on his face. "I'll be back, Sakura-chan."

She nodded a hopeful smile on her face. "Ramen?"

Naruto wiggled his eyebrows. "Date?"

"Dumbass!"

They walked out together, with a friendship that would hopefully transcend the time that Naruto was about to leap into. But Sakura sounded a bit too sad for just needless worry…she didn't actually think he'd just ditch her purposefully…did she? He wouldn't pull a Sasuke on her, even if her punches scared the living shit out of him.

.

.

.

The hill was already prepared when Naruto trekked his way up there. Konoha was in the distance, its towers standing proud and tall even when circled with ominous forests. This was by far the tallest hill until the Iwa mountain range, a long distance away in the horizon. What a nice day, the blond thought, and he hoped that whatever time he landed in would be experiencing the good fortune of a warm front. Jiraiya was already waiting, cross-legged and stone-faced. His eyes were closed in what could be seen as deep meditation.

Sadly, Jiraiya wasn't nice enough to do the seals for him. He decided that he wouldn't disturb the man, and began the first structure.

It wasn't until he was fully done with the center graph did Jiraiya stir. Out of the other four that overlapped at its edges, forming a bit of a box, this was by far the hardest. Maybe it was the knowledge that this was the part that would let him travel amongst time or get him lost in a slipstream that scared him.

His ink brush was nothing more than inches from the rice paper when Jiraiya's eyes snapped open.

"Watch where you put that thing."

"Holy _fuck_—

"You're too close to the second translation to be starting the second graph there."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, looking up from his artwork. "Right…"

The older man huffed, hands in the soft grass. "Really brat, how would you live without me? You'd be stuck in a slipstream if I hadn't opened my eyes."

"I'd check it over." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Somehow I don't believe that." The Sannin replied.

There was a silence webbed with anger and frustration from Naruto, and a calmer contemplative side from Jiraiya. The blond worked in silence, goading the Sannin just to point out _another _mistake so he could yell back.

But the Sannin was quiet all through his third graph.

And even quiet through three translations through his fourth, until he opened his mouth.

Naruto was ready to whirl on him.

"Good job."

"You—wha?" Naruto sputtered, noticing that even though he praised, Jiraiya wasn't happy in the slightest.

"It's a good job. The third graph."

Naruto looked up from his work and eyed the man sitting a few feet away from him. "But you don't look too happy about that."

The man sighed, and Naruto was struck by how tired the man looked. Tired… and worn out. "I'm not any younger, Naruto."

"I know." The blond snorted. "There's a reason the ladies avoid you."

"You're ruining the moment brat."

"Sorry." He didn't sound it.

"As I was saying," Jiraiya coughed, and Naruto realized this was a long speech, so he began his work again. "There's got to be someone experienced enough to lead the next generation in sealing. Not saying that you're not talented, Naruto, but you don't take enough precautions when you seal."

"I've never made a really, really horrible mistake." Naruto pointed out, even though he knew, seriously, that he was only prolonging the inevitable

"_Yet_."

"And never will." He said, anyway.

"Its good you're optimistic." Jiraiya scoffed. "But that's just wishful thinking."

Looking up seventeen translations into the fourth seal, Naruto was about to retort. He saw the look on Jiraiya's face and decided against it. Naruto knew that he was prying him open with just a look, cleaving through his thoughts by the mere movement of his eyes. Times like these Naruto cursed he didn't wear a mask like Kakashi.

Jiraiya finally spoke. "You're more of the person who's going to learn from their mistakes."

"Exactly."

"But you're not going to learn if you're dead."

"I'm not—

"Think of the odds Naruto. 'Impossible' is a word that will never belong in your vocabulary, but perhaps it's about time you put it there."

"I'll be fine!" Naruto growled out. Sometimes, the lengths people went to when they were worried were so outrageous. "Here. Check."

The Sannin stood then, and Naruto took it as a wordless cue for the Sage to do his own once over, and backed away slowly. To some degree, no matter how small or how little Naruto paid attention to it, he was aware of the dangers that began with just _thinking _about time travel, let alone doing it. Perhaps though, he just didn't want to admit it to himself.

It wasn't like he was _not _cautious. Quite the opposite.

The main seal, glowing azure in the center of his graph, was surprisingly perfect. The second, to the upper right, only needed one fixing. The third, which was the lower left, was also perfect. And the fourth, rearing the seal in the lower-right hand corner only had one mistranslation.

The seal faced counter-clockwise. Clockwise, and he'd go into the future.

"It's good." Jiraiya said in his approval, after steadily looking it over for the past few minutes. He rummaged through his pockets, and Naruto watched him draw out a scroll sealed with wax with widened eyes. "This is an anchor seal." Jiraiya began with seriousness, even though Naruto was well aware of what it was. "Plant this in any certain point in time, and you'll be able to visit again if you add the translations into your main seal."

Naruto was near jumping in anticipation.

"I'm warning you though, Naruto. This is a very important decision, and I'm only giving you one, so choose wisely."

"Of course!" Naruto answered quickly, taking it with shaking hands.

There was a heavy pause, as Naruto waited with bated breath for the words he'd been hearing in his head all morning.

"Free to go." Jiraiya saluted, a wry smile on his face.

Naruto saluted back, eagerly stepping into the middle of the seal. It burned ferociously at his feet. The light rose around him, seeming to collect in a clout of blue, before it shot into the sky.

All that was left was a solemn-faced old man, and a burning, crumbling paper.

.

.

—x—

.

.

Naruto's head hurt like a mother fucker.

He was apparently in some underbrush, from the stick that was nicely wedged into his side and the leaves that tickled his nose. Popping his head out of the shrubbery, he took a look around. Konoha, definitely. The seal wasn't supposed to transport him too far away from its original place. He tried to look at the Hokage Mountain, an easy way to tell what date it was, but it was blocked by a tree uprooted in front of him.

Sometimes he wondered if he was going to get stuck. Despite blatantly slipping off most of Jiraiya's ominous warnings, he did feel like he got a bite from them. With all the 'what ifs' that packaged themselves so nicely with the whole time travelling debate, he usually didn't care much for them. There were always 'what ifs', right? So what was the pointing always dwelling on them?

And then of course, there was the fact that most of those were going to come true one way or another.

"He's late. Again."

Naruto paused in his loud rustling, craning his ears to hear the faint voices he could make out.

"Yeah I know. Hey! If he never shows, wanna go get ramen with me—

"NEVER!" Another scream. "Actually, Sasuke-kun, would you like to—

—no." A beat hadn't even passed.

"Aww."

"Aw."

"Hn."

Naruto blinked. Oh god. He knew exactly where he was. Exactly what time period he was in, and exactly what was going to happen.

Immediately, he put a genjutsu on his appearance. A good one, because he didn't want Kakashi mysteriously popping in and whipping the Sharingan on him. The whiskers were gone, his hair was brown.

That should be good enough.

He stepped out of the shrubbery, dancing across the bramble as he tried to get a vine off his foot.

"Ah—shit_fuck—_" He struggled in a one v. one with the vine, the vine winning for most of it, until he just whipped out a kunai and lopped the whole thing off.

By this point, he'd danced out into the center of a disturbingly familiar bridge, with three disturbingly familiar faces peering at him with expressions of disbelief and surprise.

"Hey!" Sakura pointed wildly at him, looking just as surprised as she was worried. "Who are you?"

"He's a villain!" His younger self shouted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Let's fight him and save Konoha!"

"You idiot." Sasuke muttered with emphasis, nudging to Naruto's forehead. "He's got a _hitai-ate._"

The young blonde squinted at it, before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah. Whoops."

"Yeah, you idiot." Sakura parroted, sticking her tongue out.

His younger self returned it. Oh god. This was making out to be just awful. Soon the blonde turned back to him.

"But who are you, anyway?" The blonde Gennin asked shrewdly.

"Me?" Naruto pointed to himself, as if there could possibly be anyone else. "Well, you see, it's a bit of a long story…"

"You sound like our Sensei." Sakura sniffed. "Making up stupid excuses."

"Do they usually end with your Sensei getting a lot of women and saving the world before getting dumped in a bush behind a bridge full of dumb kids?"

"Eww!" Sakura shrieked, and then; "Hey—wait, _what_?"

"Did you really get a lot of women?" His younger self perked up, all loud and _in his face_.

He almost flinched back, but held still. "Of course. That's just a part of the game. Lots of women, and super cool missions."

"So you're a Jounin, then?" Naruto couldn't even get himself to look at the kid's fac. "I've never seen you around before."

He managed it somehow, though, looking straight into the obsidian eyes, their history playing through them like crackling, soundless film. Sasuke's face, _(are you scared, chicken?), _the blood down his neck and the needles in his spine as he insisted his body just moved on his own, the Sharingan in his eyes as he looked up into the blonde's red ones, bodies still connected from the whole in Naruto's lung.

It wasn't this bad seeing the Uchiha in his time, with his utterly impassive visage, the cool dark of his eyes unfamiliar and alien on the pale face of someone he used to know. But here, where there was still a brief spark of life in their depths, where he still resembled the boy Naruto used to know, used to believe was his best friend, it hurt just that much more.

He gulped though, attempting to shake the feeling away.

Naruto tapped his forehead protector. "You said it yourself."

"You could've just killed a Konoha-nin and taken it for yourself." Sasuke pointed out.

"You guys really believe I'm some sort of spy?" Naruto grumbled. "Wouldn't I be, you know, trying to shank the Hokage? And not sitting around talking to a bunch of Gennin?"

"We're not a bunch of Gennin!" His younger, more annoying self piped up angrily. "I'm gonna be the best ninja in the whole world!"

"He's got a point though…" Sakura admitted quietly.

"And anyway, I've got a mission report to turn in." He lied easily, giving them all one last lingering look. "See you around, huh? Maybe we'll meet again."

Though there was no 'maybe' in the reality of it.

His younger ramen-and-Sakura-obsessed self pouted, but said nothing. The other two seemed pleased he left.

But he didn't care much.

He was just glad he'd made a speedy exit, because there was no way he could even spend another second there.

There was so much he wanted to reveal to his younger self, so many words of wisdom he wished someone had given to him at that age. So many warnings and so many encouragements, all of them making a bile he swallowed down thickly. Just keep walking, he told himself as he furiously tore through the streets, keep walking and don't look back.

He came to an abrupt stop a little ways off near the memorial, covered enough in canopy that no one would see.

"Here's good." He supposed to himself, eying the sun.

He'd have enough daylight for nearly seven hours.

There were some things about sealing that he'd just never get used to. Everything about it was so complex—each line, be it curved, straight, or a mixture of both had to be executed perfectly on a certain spot on the paper in relation to the rest of the graph. And even then, the graph itself was in relation to itself. The entire formula had to be translated backwards to jump _forward _in time, a point that Naruto clearly seemed to get confused with jumping backwards, as he had to redo almost the entire bottom left circle.

The sun was making a very, very, slow ascent upward to the center of the sky, when Naruto finished. It was terribly hot; unlike the day he left with Jiraiya there was no comforting breeze to keep the temperature from skyrocketing. At least the canopy that dappled the sunlight helped a little. But it also made it terribly humid. He wondered how he ever lived through this day before.

"Huh. I thought I'd find you here."

Naruto jumped.

Shit.

He turned around slowly, eyes warily eying the Jounin vest and the orange book placed so nonchalantly in gloved hands. He wondered, was it the book, the mask, or the hair that gave his sensei away? A part of him wanted to smile and say hello, but the more sane part smacked himself up the head and told him to think of something quick.

"I'm just uh… enjoying the local fauna." He hedged uneasily.

Kakashi swept an eye to the now glowing seal. "I can see that."

There was a beat of silence. "…Did you need something?"

"You don't seem to have anything to hide," The silver haired man appraised with a light voice, making like he hadn't heard the blonde at all. "But your stance is so rigid, it leads me to believe I've over looked something."

"Good to know." Naruto retorted. "I'll learn to fix it."

"Sure you will," The copy-nin flipped a page. It was an issue Naruto was familiar with, and for a moment he found himself wondering if Kakashi had made it to the part where Ikki and Ringo started to have table sex, but then realized that perhaps he should concentrate on more demanding things. Like the S-Class Sensei facing him down. "If you can make it out."

Kakashi was fast, but luckily, Naruto knew his quirks. Kakashi never lunged completely straight; there was a crick that leaned to his uncovered eye. Naruto took the small opening to dodge around the Jounin, blocking the kunai with his own. However, there was a reason Kakashi was still his sensei, and he scraped Naruto's cheek.

Oh fuck…

He could feel his genjutsu slipping, as he was putting more effort into the seal to control it.

Kakashi noticed too, only visible eye narrowing as he lunged again.

This time, however, Naruto leaned backward—another one of Kakashi's quirks. He could be such a lightweight; it was easy to spring him in another direction with enough leverage. Velocity always helped too, though. When Kakashi lunged, he leaned back and threw the man upwards. At the very least, the seal would activate and Kakashi would have no evidence except burnt rice paper.

When Kakashi tumbled back onto the forest floor, the seal began to flare.

Naruto waved happily. "Oh, not to spoil it, but Ringo goes for Nue in the end!—

His sentence wasn't finished because the explosion of light was too loud and he had already disappeared. Kakashi was left to stare brokenly at the burnt rice paper, the sparks already devouring the only evidence of time travel.

.

.

—x—

.

.

He woke up with his hair singed and near chakra exhaustion. At least, he sighed to himself, he wasn't going to have to worry about a stick shoved too close to his nose. In fact, the only thing he would need to know is that the surface below him was very wet, it was very, _very_ cold outside, and he was bound to get sick. Regardless of Kyuubi or not.

He imagined it to be early spring, perhaps from the way the trees that lined the edge of the river were coloring nicely. It was definitely cold, but more of a crispness to the air than a frosty snap. From the sun no lazily descending into the tallest mountains, it'd have to be somewhere around three.

Well, if he was in water, it was always a good idea to see how deep it was.

Twisting himself a bit, he swiped an arm below him, waiting to feel the swampy bottom when—

He hit something else. Soft…fabric?

With a concentrating frown on his face, he wedged whatever it was upwards, the fabric tugged onto something else and…

A whole bleeding torso came out of the water.

"Ah…shit." Naruto muttered, scanning as best he could the rest of the waters.

Fairly clean, although there was definitely crimson streaking through it. Which meant a battle was taking place upstream. And from the looks of things, a rather gruesome one. Naruto let go of the torso—it was already pulling him down anyway—and used his chakra to sit atop the flowing water. He didn't spot anything particularly familiar, though he knew he shouldn't be too far.

He fished himself out of the water, and began to walk upstream.

Only with his rather sensitive hearing could he hear the battle taking place. The sharp clang of kunai, a small yelp, the sound of something gutting another person— sword maybe?—and another yelp were just some of them. It sounded to be maybe…Chuunin? Gennin even? What were they doing here?

He didn't have time to guess.

Actually, he barely had time to duck.

A shuriken embedded itself in a tree behind him.

"Another one!"

A brown haired girl, who couldn't possibly even come up to his chest, skidded to a halt after she had near tumbled out of the bramble. Leaves were stuck in her hair and she was breathing heavily. Naruto didn't have much time to fully assess her, as her right arm curved into an arch and five more kunai embedded himself into the trees behind him.

He leapt out of the water and landed on the ground with little grace. "Hey—whoa—stop that—_fuck_!" He ducked, swung around, and hopped over the rest of her shots, hands up in the air in what he assumed was universal surrender.

Obviously not.

"I'm lost, I swear!" He pleaded to her. "Seriousyl!"

She blinked at him docilely, and for a moment he thought she'd lower her guard. Instead, her eyes hardened. "I can't trust you!"

He'd have found the situation comical was he not so flabbergasted. There was something really confusing and disorienting about time travel, and he was still reeling from hopping through time and space, and really, was a few minutes of peace too much to ask?

Lucky for him her throws were fairly weak and easy to dodge, and didn't take much effort on his part. She was a Konoha kunoichi, judging from the headband, and could be anything higher then a newly minted Chuunin.

Jeez.

Hadn't she noticed the exact same symbol on his headband?

"Yeah Rin-chan!" Called a boy who gracelessly sprawled out of the bushes. "Get him!" He cheered

The last of the team was rustling through the bushes. "You idiot. Look at his hitai-ate."

Naruto was about to kiss his feet for the first amount of common sense he'd had in the last five minutes, only to be met face to face with—

Kakashi?

Naruto blinked.

Well damn. Even at this age, he still wore his mask. Naruto had been looking forward to seeing a younger, maskless version of his Sensei too…

"Oh my god!" The girl—Rin—squeaked apologetically, hands flying to her mouth in a gasp. "I'm so, _so _sorry."

"Err—it's fine." Naruto grinned. "No harm done."

Well, looks like he wouldn't need a Genjutsu. Probably wasn't even born yet from the looks of things. The three were quite a mismatched team, much like his own Gennin team. Kakashi was a dark, but small presence in the background, looking much younger then the rest of his team. The young girl had cropped brown hair that stuck straight, much unlike Sakura's wild mane. The last was an unruly looking kid with get black hair, and looked to be gravity defying naturally. His goggles and chubby cheeks almost made Naruto think of himself.

"So you're a Konoha-nin? So cool! Where are you coming from? Did you have a mission in Iwa?" The boy with orange goggles gushed, peering closer.

Rin whirled on him with an embarrassed face. "Don't ask stupid questions, Obito!"

Though this would be the perfect opportunity to spin his alibi. "Well, actually, I've been out on a reconnaissance mission for quite a while, so it's probably natural you guys don't recognize me." They looked enraptured. "You all were probably still in the academy when I left."

"Really?" Asked Rin with wide eyes. "How long?"

"Around five years." Naruto shrugged, sounding nonchalant.

They all erupted into confusing exclamations, sans Kakashi, who just kind of grunted, but even he seemed amazed. Wow, he totally looked like Sasuke leaning back on the tree like that, arms crossed and calm demeanor. A cross between Sasuke and Kakashi...Naruto didn't even want to think at this point. Although, Kakashi at this age was really adorable, it might just be the soft plush white hair or maybe the way he _thought _he was the coolest thing in the world. It was a hard decision.

"That's so crazy!" Obito cried with a grin. "Then you must not know anything about Sensei's nomination."

Naruto blinked, taken aback. What? Nomination? What time period was he in?"Who's your Sensei?"

"Well, Minato-sensei isn't from a big clan or anything, but he's really amazing!" Rin explained, her obvious adoration for her Sensei tinging her view in bias. "Sandaime-sama nominated him for Fourth Hokage! Isn't that amazing?"

The group demeanor shifted almost immediately at the mention of their beloved Sensei. Obviously the three looked up to him very much, and the mere mention of him had them all glowing in pride.

Naruto digested the information with a sobering look that none of them seemed to catch.

He'd never go far to say he disliked the Yondaime, for he really knew nothing about the guy. And Naruto was never a guy to judge a book by its cover. Though he'd certainly have a reason for any hatred he harbored for the man who was his father. And he certainly had no ties to the guy, even though he'd been told they were related. It was almost... surreal, to think that these kids looked up to him so much. Would that have been him, had his father survivied? Would he not have this mixture of disgust and impassivity at the very thought of him?

To Naruto, he was simply just another guy who did him no good.

But he wouldn't let his prejudice involve itself with these kids.

They were all watching his reaction, so he smiled softly. "That's pretty cool."

"Isn't it?" Rin gushed. "That makes him the youngest in Konoha history! Not even the Shodaime was that young—

"Only by a couple years." Kakashi interrupted snidely.

"And everyone loves him! He's the hero of this war!"

So they were in a war, then. Of course. Naruto could have smacked himself upside the head. The Yondaime was announced Hokage after the turning point of the Iwa war.

"Talking about me? I started sneezing."

Naruto froze.

His voice wasn't anything he thought it would be. When he was younger, and he looked at his favorite Hokage on the mountain, he thought he'd have a stern voice, like when the Old Man was upset at his ANBU. But he didn't even have to see this man's face to know he was a unique, defined leader. It sounded laid back and a little higher pitched then he expected, much, much more like his own then he ever would have thought.

This was the man who sealed the Kyuubi into him and pretty much made his life hell for fourteen years…?

And this…

…was his father?

Jiraiya had eventually told him when he was halfway through theoretical time-traveling seals. He had said that one day; he may encounter his father, and ended up telling Naruto about his parents. And Naruto always wanted to know what they were like. Just very vague details, their hair color, their date of birth, nothing entirely special. Although he did say that his parents named him out of a character in Icha Icha, which was a bit weird.

But no amount of facts could ever prepare him to seeing the man in person, standing in front of him.

"Yeah!" Rin bounded up to her Sensei. "This man here has been gone for a while, so we were just filling him in on your position, _Hokage-sama_."

"Gah! Stop calling me that!"

"Hokage-sama!" Rin and Obito chirped.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi scoffed from his place in the corner.

Naruto waved. "Nice to meet you, Hokage-sama."

"Stop!" Minato groaned.

The two were both quite blonde, though Naruto's had a darker shade, probably from his mother's red hair. His skin was darker as well, though that was most likely from years of travel. Their faces had a disturbing resemblance, the nose, the shape of the mouth and the chin. Minato had small, almost intense eyes, that seemed strange on his cheerful face. The eyes, though. Not their shape, but that brilliant everlasting shade of blue that could never be properly described, a color that mixed the ocean and the sky together, was what really completed the image.

They were so alike, Naruto may as well have been looking in a mirror.

Minato was thinking much the same.

The blonde in front of him looked so much like him he was near reeling in the aftershock. Maybe a bit tanner, but he could use a little sun. And those cerulean eyes… that exact shade as his, though maybe brighter. Something tugged him toward the boy.

Minato finished his once over, a bit of suspicion in his smiling eyes. "And you are…?"

"Just a Jounin returning from a long mission."

"So many years away from home…" Rin sighed. "That must've been awful."

"Years?" Minato echoed with shock. And then, with what may be understanding; "Were you part of Team Red? The Iwa reconnaissance team sent out all those years ago?"

Naruto could have wept for joy at the opening. "One of the first to be deployed. Now that the tides have changed, they're sending a couple of us back."

Minato eyed the blonde's bittersweet look. There was genuine relief in his voice. It must have been a long time, alone in a foreign country. He'd never had the first hand experience of a spy, but he knew how difficult it was.

"We already finished our mission," There was nothing but sympathy in his voice. "You can travel back with us if you like."

Naruto blinked.

Travel back to Konoha? Well…his rice paper was soggy, and he doubted that in this day and age his hitai-ate would do him much good in Iwa either. And he could use some ramen… time travelling seriously made him hungry. Plus, he was already half way done with his ink… Gah. He'd go.

And it wouldn't be _horrible_ to get to know his father a little bit, right?

"Sure, why not?"

_Hmm...I was a bit upset that I got more story alerts and author alerts than I did reviews... -.- wah! review!_


	3. Rewrite

_Cloud Age Symphony; Last Exile OP. Fantastic song... leaning towards the electronic side. I loved it, anyhow. _

* * *

The Hokage Mountain looked odd standing perilously against the backdrop of trees with only four heads decorating it's face. Without Tsunade's massive forehead looked down upon the city Naruto couldn't quite call it home. Konoha really didn't age though, basking in what could possibly be immortal glory, a sort of feel to it that Naruto got even when walking through the gates twenty years in the future.

Obito and Rin were conversing excitedly behind him as Minato chatted pleasantly with the guards. Jeez, Naruto thought to himself, _everyone _was enamored with the blonde. It completely exceeded local hero, and was starting to enter local-demigod phase.

Everyone teased him light heartedly about being inaugurated. Apparently, it was common knowledge that Minato detested being mentioned so formally.

Throughout all the jeers, Naruto couldn't help the ease the strain out of his smile. Thinking about how quickly their pleasant lives would be cut short—he wasn't aware of any of them aside from Kakashi in the future—made him exhausted. This cute little girl Rin, with her big brown eyes and chirpy laugh would never live to see her twentieth birthday. Neither would the boy, who reminded him so much of himself.

"I can't _wait _until the ceremony!" Rin was saying eagerly. "I wonder how many people will be there? D'ya think there'll be a parade? Ne, Sensei, do you think we get to come up on stage with you?"

"Of course not." Kakashi cut in with a frown, rolling his eyes.

Minato laughed a little sheepishly. "Well, probably not, Rin-chan. Kakashi-kun might be right—I'm not sure."

"Awh." Rin pouted.

"Awh." Obito mimicked.

She perked up though, swiveling to watch him with a curious expression that just seemed to naturally be on her face. "Hey Naruto-san! Are you going to the ceremony?"

Naruto stilled visibly, before quickly reverting into an unreserved smile. "Ah—well…"

To be quite honest, he hadn't been expecting to have a particularly long stay in this time. But he'd be lying if he said Minato hadn't piqued his interest. Though he'd been in the man's presence for maybe twenty minutes, he felt himself drawing in for more. Everything about the man enraptured and surprised him. The way he tousled the back of his head—a familiar gesture which Naruto did himself frequently—the quirk of his lips when he was amused but not overtly so, his constant laughter.

And would it really hurt to see his father become Hokage? That was one of the biggest historical moments of this generation, and while Naruto didn't care particularly for history, it was his _father. _Maybe at one point, back when just the mere mention of him even having a father had him captivated, the very thought would have had him jumping eagerly for a chance to go. But after finding out who the man _really _was, the man who sealed the greatest monster in the world into his son's stomach, a flawed, imperfect man, Naruto had lost most of his interest in the guy.

And now, here he was, vacillating on the choice.

"Sure." He decided upon with a shrug. Lying to them now hardly mattered. "Why not, right?"

There was a beat of silence, as if the three couldn't quite believe that Naruto would hold such _little _enthusiasm about it, until Obito laughed. "Awesome!" Rin agreed quickly. Kakashi just sort of looked put upon in the background.

Luckily, the conversation took to safer ground, and Naruto quickly sighed in relief. The three—and Kakashi, occasionally—had gone onto a lighter note of the weather, new shops that were opening up that spring, and the occasional bout into politics, what had the entire group divulging into their obviously clashing beliefs.

"And Naruto,san, you haven't even seen that ninja clothing store on second street—it's just amazing! But Jiraiya's perverted book store is just across the street from it… oh! Do you even know what that is? That disgusting Icha Icha? They didn't have that when you left… did they? !"

"Uh—well no." Naruto admitted, conscious of the eyes he knew were trained onto him. "But I'm aware of who Jiraiya is, yes."

"Really?" Rin tilted her head. "That's surprising. _I _barely even know him. He's never around much… always, well, doing whatever he does when he's not in Konoha." She turned to her Sensei. "Sensei, what does that pervert do when he's not here?"

Minato, on the spot, blinked furiously. Naruto almost felt a little sympathy for the guy. It wasn't like he could just tell them that Jiraiya led one of the most intricate spy lines in the world, and was always leaving to get in contact with his informants.

"Well, he finds inspiration for his books." Minato decided upon. Rin seemed placated.

Naruto chuckled. "What? Like spy on foreign bathhouses?"

Obito busted into laughter, as Rin gasped dramatically, as if she hadn't the slightest idea that he did the same when he was home. Kakashi was coughing to hide his laughter.

Minato smiled, and the two shared a knowing look.

"Well that's just disgusting." Rin huffed. "I can't believe he writes all those books and calls them 'literature'—I can't believe he trained Sensei! That doesn't make any sense. Sensei is _way_ cooler—

"Rin." Kakashi interrupted flatly, seeming to speak for the whole group at this point. "Shut up."

She flushed.

Rin meant well, but by god, she could talk. Forever. That, and her obvious devotion to her Sensei seemed to make its appearance in almost every other sentence out of her mouth. Naruto almost held sympathy for the whole team, wondering how they managed to put up with her all the time. Then he remembered Sakura, and just felt sorry for himself.

"Well that wasn't very nice, Kakashi-kun." Minato berated with frown, though he looked the tiniest bit relieved.

"But Sensei," Kakashi blatantly pointed out. How his face could be once exact feature was a bit disturbing. "We're already at the tower."

"Ah." Minato nodded. He turned to look over to Naruto. "Do you need to turn in your mission report?"

"Uh…"

Shit.

(Excuse… excuse) ((Think! Think!))

"…I'm actually really beat right now." Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "I just really want to sleep in my own bed right now, y'know?"

Minato's eyes softened. "I see."

"Awh! You're leaving already?" Rin pouted. "Will we see you soon?"

Naruto blinked. "Yeah, sure. How about tomorrow we could all get some ramen?"

At the mere mention of the food, Obito turned around abruptly, eyes wide. "Ramen!" He grinned. "Hell yeah!"

"Sounds like a great idea." Minato grinned. Apparenently ramen was one thing shared equally by both father and son.

"Alright." Naruto nodded. "Around one?"

"Sounds good!" Rin cheered.

Obito had already hopped up the stairs to the tower as Naruto began to wave goodbye, heading in the opposite direction. Before he even rounded the corner he was still thinking about supplies, where he was going to stay, and a whole other hidden agenda completely opposite to the front he'd just put up to his new friends.

Minato watched the blonde Jounin plod down the street with no small amount of confusion. There was something particularly familiar about the blonde, though he couldn't think of what it could possibly be. Had he met him before? Why did everything he did, from rubbing his head to smiling at a joke seem so familiar?

"Huh…" He muttered to himself.

It was probably just because the kid looked more like him then his own Kage Bunshin.

Which was strange in itself.

"Sensei!" Kakashi called from the door, where he was still propping it open. "Are you coming?"

Minato shook himself out of his reverie. "Yeah!"

.

.

.

Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Inflation made a decent hotel room the same amount as a carton of milk in the future, and Naruto had enough money to buy the best supplies and still have more the plenty for an outing of ramen.

It was ten to one when he finally found his way to the busy street where Ichiraku was. He hadn't realized he relied so heavily on the local businesses to find his way around until he was staring at unfamiliar street signs as if he was in Sunagakure. The most amusing part was seeing Ichiraku himself, the old man that Naruto remembered was nothing but a fresh faced looking guy who couldn't be too much older then him, looking charmed by the thought of another customer. It was almost amusing to think of how famous Ichiraku would come to be in the future.

"Naruto-san!"

He swiveled around in time to see a tall sunny blonde waving to him from across a distance of bustling people. Minato sure was a guy who stuck out in a crowd.

"Minato-san." Naruto greeted, perhaps a bit too cordially. But he didn't know how else to—it wasn't like they were particularly close, that was to say if they were close at all.

The older blonde grinned though, as if he'd known him his whole life. Or perhaps he was just obscenely friendly. "Where are the squirts?"

"Dunno." Naruto shrugged, pretending to look at the menu like he had no idea what was on it. It hadn't changed in twenty years. "They haven't gotten here yet."

"Ah, well, Obito's always late, although Rin's usually early." Minato muttered thoughtfully. Then brightened. "But anyway, want to order already?"

"Sure."

They slipped into the bar stools, Minato checked the menu, while Naruto continued to pretend. Best to keep the alibi that he hadn't been in Konoha for a while instead of ordering right off the bat like he usually did.

"One chicken Miso ramen please." They said in unison, then turned to blink at each other.

"That's your favorite?" Minato asked in surprise. It certainly wasn't the most liked flavor.

Naruto nodded. "Yup. Ramen's always been one of my favorites."

Logically, it made sense that he and his father would have the same taste in ramen. Though the event happening to him in real life was more surreal then he had first thought.

"You already ordered?" Obito hollered from halfway across the street, Rin and Kakashi flanking him from behind.

Naruto grinned and waved. "Yeah just now. Hurry up!"

The Uchiha sprinted over with more vigor and personality than the two remaining Uchiha combined, sliding into a seat like home plate and immediately spewing a list of a variety of ramen flavors, most of which Naruto hadn't even been aware Ichiraku made. Which said something, because Naruto had to be the most ramen-obsessed man in existence. Naruto grinned sheepishly, his diet had caved after spending tedious months with Jiraiya, who believed women a higher necessity than food.

"Ah. His stomach must have magically emptied itself again." Minato sighed with bemusement. "Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna be footing the bill?"

"You're _way _richer than me!" Obito pouted. "Honestly, how to you run so fast with all that change in your pocket! Trust me, after it's gone, you'll feel as light as a feather!"

"Obito!" Rin scolded, though Minato had already started laughing.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at their antics that, while immature, were almost refreshingly adorable.

"You guys are idiots."

"And there's Kakashi." Minato smirked, as the boy moved into the stall like a wraith, seating himself silently between his two rambunctious teammates.

The uneasiness that accompanied feeling so out of place slowly eased out of him, and he suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. It felt like, coming home… like being with his own Team Seven again, and maybe what it would feel like being with them now, if they could ever have the chance to be a whole team again.

Minato had joined in sometime ago, and the three were on a roll, the conversation always spinning into new angles. Maybe this would have been Team Seven if Sakura had lost her crush earlier in life, had Sasuke been more open to them, and had Naruto not been so obtuse.

Watching them was like unraveling all the what-if's in life.

"Nu-uh!" Obito stuck his tongue out. "I'm already fourteen!"

"I've been fourteen!" Rin retorted, stabbing her noodles with her chopsticks.

"I turned fourteen in earlier this month!" He pouted. "March 2nd!"

"February!"

Obito pouted while Rin triumphantly stuck her tongue out.

Minato blinked for a second, looking up from his two rambunctious students. "How old would you be, Naruto-san?"

Naruto grinned. "Eh, well eighteen now, nineteen in October."

"October…?"

"Tenth." Naruto elaborated.

"That's… twenty-one days away from Halloween! Hey sensei," Rin leaned over the counter. "How old are you?"

"Old." Kakashi scoffed.

"Everyone's old to you." Obito countered.

A fierce glare was shot at the loud Uchiha, who countered it with his own. The air seemed to chill as Rin started to attempt to ease the tension.

"Boys, boys." Minato grinned, diffusing the situation and what looked to be a sore point to the team. "I'm happy to say I'm not entirely ancient. Didn't I tell you guys I was turning twenty-two soon?"

Team Seven (of this day in age) went about with the information, Rin prattling on about something as Kakashi easily interrupted with sarcastic remarks. Naruto blinked as he absorbed the information. Twenty-two? That's it? He had maybe three years or so until the Kyuubi would be sealed within him. Or at least, if his calculations were correct from the fact that the Yondaime died around twenty-five.

"Ah…" Minato said as the conversation died down, leaning back to look into the sky. "It's getting late, we should head out already."

Naruto nodded, paying for his meal swiftly before Minato could protest. He had paid for all his students—including Obito's enormous amount—and Naruto didn't want to pressure him into paying anything more.

"See you all at the inauguration?" He grinned at them.

"Yep!" Rin waved.

"Better be there!" Obito hollered over his shoulder.

"Of course!" Naruto shouted before they disappeared down the street. "Hokage-sama!"

And then belatedly, in the distance; "Gah!"

His mood sobered again. He and his father even had the same thing they said when they were caught off guard or annoyed. Another similarity to add to what seemed to be a forever growing list.

He angled his face towards the sky, watching as the fading stars in the distance twinkled brightly against the dark twilight.

"Minato's right." He sighed, though he was sure this wasn't what Minato had been thinking when he had said that. "I better get back."

And there was the crux of the matter.

Jiraiya had given him one anchor seal. Did he even want to put it here?

.

.

—x—

.

.

The seal seemed to burn his retina with the intense light that accompanied each jump, and he spent a few moments blinking into a bleary sky. He hoisted himself up off of the anchor seal that was attached to the hill, congratulating himself on another successful time travel.

"Huh," He looked around, surprised that Jiraiya wasn't here. "No one's here to greet me?"

His eyes travelled to the bottom of the hill, and then he realized why.

The sleepiness that accompanied him onto each jump suddenly evaporated as he bolted onto his feet.

Sasuke.

They'd picked the hill because it was strategicall in the middle of nowhere. The forest around it was dense enough that it clouted the view from all around, and the slope was small enough that, while providing a good view, didn't stick out obtusely. The disadvantage was that it was equally as close to the Valley of the End, and inevitably, Otogakure as well.

"Sasuke…" He whispered, making out the boy's dark spikes from the distance.

Sakura was speaking, and Sai was a bit behind her. Sasuke's odd arrangement of teammates were in a semi circle behind him, and though they looked slightly imposing, Naruto got the impression that he wasn't here for a battle. If he was here for anything at all. Naruto was under the impression that Sasuke had no free will at this point.

Naruto had been so… astounded by meeting his father, he was still basking in the dreamlike experience he'd just arrived from, and seeing Sasuke, standing with that team that looked so disturbing behind him (though that may be because anyone who stood next to him that wasn't Team Seven looked _wrong_) sent that fake reality crumbling into the real one he'd left behind.

But there was no use holding the dream, even as it crumbled into dust.

"Hey!" He shouted, and the entire party turned their heads. "Miss me yet?"

He'd been so caught up in this world that seemed so different from his own fragmented one, that he'd almost forgotten about the man who used to be his best friend.

"Naruto." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. The blonde looked… oddly relaxed. Uninterested, or perhaps just unimpressed. There had been a time when, at the mere sighting of Sasuke, Naruto would have leapt immediately into action, pleading for the boy to come back. Now though, he only stared silently with eerily blue eyes.

"Great to see that dick-less made it." Sai appraised with a blank smile. Naruto, and everyone else for that matter, still could not tell the difference between his seriousness and his satire.

Naruto frowned in jest. "Naturally Sai, only the most sexually inactive can see the humor in that."

The black haired boy blinked.

Sakura tisked at the duo's immaturity, though her lips had curved into an amused smirk. Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes from across the tense clearing, almost absurdly pleased to find a flicker of _something _passing through their dark depths at the exchange. Was he upset to find himself replaced?

The dark haired boy appraised them all with his hooded, near-impassive gaze. Naruto would have never been able to tell the difference had he not encountered a younger Kakashi—who had the stoic stone-like face down to utter perfection, so much so he made Sasuke look like a novice. He looked like he was searching them all for something, a deep silence resounding as none of his teammates made a sound.

He seemed to come to a conclusion. "It's not them." He spoke a voice that still lingered in his memories, though it was to his teammates.

The redhead one blinked at his leader. "You're sure?"

Naruto met Sasuke's eyes, two different sides to the same sky. "Yes." Came Sasuke's frank reply.

Naruto blinked, before his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're investigating?"

The Uchiha didn't seem to think Naruto was worth a reply, tearing his midnight eyes away from the blonde. He turned his back to his former team, looking like he was about to head out. "It's not any of them."

He looked over his shoulder, as if goading any of them to say otherwise. Naruto held his gaze, before turning away.

"Of course not." He said eventually, nonchalance catching Sasuke off guard. "Go tell your master that whatever it was wasn't coming from us. And if it's in our borders, we can deal with it ourselves."

If that wasn't a dismissal nothing else was, and Sasuke only turned around and continued to walk into the shadows of the forest, the only way Naruto could see his anger in the burning afterglow of his eyes. Naruto would have thought more of the dark-haired boy, had he not been so concerned over what the boy's purpose was. Maybe the snake was trying to keep peace and was simply checking to see if things were amiss? Or perhaps, and more likely, he was trying to see if this energy could be harnessed for his own gain.

Either way, crisis averted.

Temporarily, at least.

After Sasuke left, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

He was too close to exhaustion to deal with Sasuke now.

"Naruto…?" Sakura called softly once the Uchiha's presence was long gone.

Sai however, wasn't as kin to dancing around the subject as Sakura was. "It was you who was making all those chakra flares, wasn't it?"

He couldn't lie, but he did avert his eyes. Sakura sighed, and it didn't sound very relieved. He really hoped she wasn't crying, he hated it when she did that, it made him always feel guilty.

"I know you can't tell me." She sighed, the undertones of sadness in the submissiveness of her tone.

"I'm sorry guys," Naruto felt more out of place in his own time then he did in the other. "It's just I… I really _can't_ tell you." Can't, or won't? He didn't know himself.

"Classified?" Sai offered.

"Yeah."

The last vestiges of Team Seven settled into a very uneasy silence, Sakura had her hands behind her back, twiddling with her fingers with unanswered questions. Sai stood a bit to her right, his feet on the base of the hill's long slope, eyes and body posture betraying nothing of what he was feeling. Naruto watched them from a little ways above them on the hill, the wind rolling the grass and sending his hair in which way directions.

Sakura sent him a very melancholic smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Are you coming back with us?"

"Umm…" He actually wasn't very sure. "I guess so."

"Then we'll go for ramen." She announced, looking sure of herself. There was a tinge to her voice though, as if she was unsure if even ramen could bring Naruto around.

Her fears were unfounded, though. "Yeah." He agreed.

However this time, with this Team Seven there was no one to begin the banter that had existed between the one he was currently wavering around.

.

.

.

After ramen, Jiraiya had asked for him.

The teahouse was a very small one that was atop a beauty parlor that existed on the first floor. Tsunade was currently getting a nice massage, and since Jiraiya was accompanying her for whatever reason, there meeting took place on the next floor up.

Jiraiya folded his arms silently as they sat across the table, the small tea house was filled with quaint music and very little people. The seal master had a very stern look on his face, and Naruto had bowed his head, trying not to see intimidated even if he was. It was scary watching Jiraiya like this, he was much to used to the pervert's light-hearted tendency when they were around women. However now, when dealing with sealing, he was a much more opposing figure.

"You put a seal." He stated. It wasn't a question.

He gulped nervously. "Yeah."

Jiraiya's hands, that were in his sleeves, unfolded and a small slip of paper with the tracking seal was on it. "This seal."

"Yes."

"In another time period."

Another gulp. "Yeah."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "And you're sure about this?" He'd been given the opportunity, so certainly Jiraiya wasn't mad about that.

He held his gaze. "Yes."

Jiraiya sighed. "You've only done two jumps, Naruto. I _told _you to choose wisely."

"I have!" Naruto interrupted. "And you never told me I had to anchor to a specific time. I could choose whenever I wanted, right?"

"Though I'd prefer if you had spent more time branching out…" Jiraiya gave him a hard look. Naruto attempted to meet it, but failed. "But it is your choice."

Naruto nodded.

"And you're sure?"

No, not at all. He had never had any intention about meeting his father when they began this whole endeavor. Sure, it had settled as a thought in the back of his mind, but the actual even had… changed his perspective. Made him curious. Interested.

"Yes."

Made him long for something he thought he'd stopped wanting a long time ago.

Jiraiya tutted. "I think you should rethink this."

"W—What?" Naruto blinked, in shock. Was Jiraiya serious?

"You need time before you start properly engaging it other times." Jiraiya tented his fingers. "I think you need some more experience with the whole jumping process. All you have to do is burn the anchor seal, jump back to this time, and you'll be free to go as you please once more."

"Once more—?" Naruto repeated in disbelief. "But I don't _want_ that. You said I could place the seal anywhere—

"Maybe that was a bit rash of me." Jiraiya mused. "I should have known you'd be too eager to do so. You're wasting a lot of opportunities by doing so, Naruto."

"That doesn't matter to me!" Naruto insisted, belatedly realizing he was shaking the table.

"I know." Jiraiya nodded. "I'm not stupid Naruto. I know who you've met."

"I—you…" His eyes widened in shock. "How…?"

"I know you." He said as explanation. "It's never particularly mattered to you before—certainly not after I told you about him. But remember, I know you, and I know Minato. It was only natural that you'd want to get to know him—he's a supreme leader. And your father. If you _hadn't _wanted to get to know him I'd be a bit surprised."

"Then I don't get it." Naruto furrowed his brows in annoyance. "What's the problem?"

"Attachment, Naruto, is a very dangerous thing." Jiraiya lectured seriously, before his eyes went very distant as he watched himself in the reflection of his tea. "It leads you to do very stupid things. To change things that shouldn't be changed. By even having a passing interest you threaten the very balance of history."

Naruto gulped, though he had no words to reply with. He was well aware that what he had done was stupid. He was well aware that his intentions when placing that anchor seal weren't for study—they were for himself. He knew all of this, yet he wouldn't… couldn't take it back.

Jiraiya watched him with hooded eyes. "But you don't care… do you?"

.

.

—x—

.

.

The Konoha streets were bursting with a magnitude of colors, from the striped hoods of street vendor stalls to the enormous balloons that took to the sky, everything had a color. And the _noise. _It was quite possible that there wasn't a single soul who wasn't engaged in excited chatter. Minato seemed to be the apple of everyone's eye for the evening.

The thought made him a big nervous.

He could make out Obito's wild spikes from his spot backstage, a bit amused by the enormous Takoyaki the boy was tackling, two in each hand. The inauguration hadn't even started, yet his knee was bouncing anxiously. The three of them mingled over to another stall, this one a fish-catching stall that had Rin delighted. Minato wished he could join them, but alas, he had a job to fulfill.

It seemed that the entire country had come up to congratulate him, some boisterously and some even with tears in their eyes. Minato was a bit flabbergasted by it all, but mostly he was really humbled. Pleased, even. It seemed there wasn't a soul in Konoha who hadn't taken his inauguration with ill thoughts. He may be the first Hokage after the Shodaime to have that happen—or so said Hiruzen.

Though a thought lingered in the back of his mind.

He was recalling a silly blonde with a wide, but enigmatic smile and the brightest blue eyes that resembled his own so much he may as well have been looking in a mirror.

He'd said he'd be here.

So where was he?

He'd looked truthful when he'd promised to come, and Minato wanted to readily believe him. As much as he wouldn't want to admit it, he was actually a bit hurt by the no show. That in itself was bizarre to him. It wasn't like Naruto was… important to him. He'd met him only a day ago and yet—and yet—

There was a certain deep feeling which stirred at the mere thought of him, and it hurt, almost like a brief nostalgia which stung the back of his nose.

He smiled, and Minato felt pleased. He had to protect that smile. It felt like Naruto was one of his own.

It had only taken eye contact.

He wondered if it had something to do with their similarities. Hell, even their voices were the same.

The Sandaime had begun his introduction, and the guests were beginning to gather towards the stage. Minato was worried now; the inauguration was already starting. Where was he? He tried to scan the crowd as best he could, but he certainly wasn't the only one who was blond, and there was a sea of people.

There!

No, green eyes.

Over there!

Not that one either—

"And with great pleasure, and relief—" The audience chuckled, and Minato lost all the faces in the movement. "May I please introduce our new Hokage, the Yondaime of Konoha, Namikaze Minato!"

He felt himself being tugged up the stage, he said a few words, smiled as best he could without faltering, reading his script. People he thanked, a run down of his career, really the basics that everyone wanted to know but weren't really all that important.

He supposed he might as well give up. It wasn't like it should mean anything to him, anyway. The Sandaime was here, looking at him with a wide, proud smile. Jiraiya was, somewhere, surely. Kushina was up in the front row clapping loudly and his team may as well have been the loudest of them all, way in the back jumping up and down. All his important people were here, friends from his Gennin graduation all the way up to the Jounin he had met on a few missions back. Yet the bitter feeling was there, anyway.

The Sandaime graciously took the mic away from him before he could make a proper fool out of himself, and wrapped up the speech in a couple of minutes. Minato shifted his weight, antsy for the onslaught of people that would no doubt greet him with more vigor then they ever had before.

And they did.

Hordes of people came to congratulate him, and he welcomed them half-heartedly. Kushina had given him some ecstatic back clapping, which had cheered him up some, and Kakashi had—for once in his life—actually shared food with him. But there was no Naruto in sight.

If he had a son, he would have said it hurt as painfully as him not going.

Eventually the crowd thinned around him, and he was left to breath in the crisp night air in blessed silence. The noise faded, and he took the moment to relax in the slight reprieve from all the people.

"Hey! Congrats."

He turned around.

And there he was.

Smiling at him.

"I thought you weren't going to make it." He smiled back, relieved. Whatever bitterness was lost completely at the sight of the other blonde.

Naruto shrugged. "Ah… I got a little lost. You see, this black cat crossed my path and then I had to—"

When in doubt, use one of Kakashi's many excuses.

"Little lost?" Minato grunted. "Very lost. The inauguration's already over."

Naruto pouted indignantly. "I made it once you had gotten your speech." Okay, a lie, he had barely just stumbled out of his own seal.

"Really?" The newly made Yondaime seemed skeptical. "Then surely you'd remember my opening lines, right?"

Luckily, the academy had him prepared with all those useless history tests they used to do that had little to no relevance with being a ninja. Memorizing the Yondaime's inauguration speech was one of them… or so Naruto had thought. Until now. He coughed. "To my fellow citizens of Konoha, I am thankful for the position and honored that out of the many—

"Okay! Okay! Fine! You were there." Minato fought off his laughter with exasperation. Naruto only smirked at him.

"Naruto-san!"

"Naruto!"

Obito sprinted over with his usual vigor, a bowl of ramen spilling as he went. Rin had tempura hanging out of her mouth, and Kakashi chose not to eat anything and still had his infuriating mask still in place. Though… there was Teriyaki sauce on his cheek. Had Naruto missed it? !

Naruto felt his smile broaden; it was a great feeling watching the three come towards him.

"Sensei!" Rin squealed. "You looked so cool up there! Were you scared?"

"Nah," Minato shook his head. "I couldn't see anything. The stage lights were to bright."

"Hey! Hey! Now that you're Hokage and all, does this mean that we don't have to do any more missions?" Obito grinned hopefully.

"Of course not." Minato frowned. "We're going on another one tomorrow."

"Augh!"

"What?"

"Hn."

Naruto could have laughed at their reactions if he wasn't to busy doing so already.

"Sensei!" Rin whined. "I don't want another crappy D-ranked mission!"

Minato smiled cheekily. "Who said it was D-ranked, huh?"

Obito and Rin brightened at the same time, screaming in joy as they dreamt of amazing action packed A-class missions with evil ninja coming after them and becoming heroes while they were at it. Kakashi only grunted, arms folded over, only his eye betraying the evident pleasure he had at the news.

"Sounds like you guys are having fun." Naruto smiled.

Minato turned to him. "Are you planning to go back into the missions any time soon?"

"Nah," Naruto stretched, pulling off his lazy shinobi just back from a mission alibi. "I think I'll stick around Konoha for a while."

"That's a good idea." Rin nodded. "You should have a vacation or something!"

"That might be a good idea, Rin-chan. I don't think Konoha will need me for a few months." Naruto commented vaguely, but no one caught the hidden meaning.

They walked around for a little bit, running into people who were congratulating the new Hokage, who was blushing profusely with all the 'Hokage-sama' that was going around now. Obito and Rin were laughing and playing games at the stalls with Kakashi, and occasionally Minato and Naruto would join in. But they were too good for the ring toss—they'd always get the ring in and they ended up with a lot of goldfish.

"Hey! Hey!" Obito cried after the festival was dying down. "Why don't we head out for some ramen?"

"Obito!" Rin growled. "We just had some!"

"She's right dumb ass."

"You can never have enough ramen!" Obito rebutted sagely.

"Slow down guys," Minato smiled sheepishly, coming between his students. "Why don't we go out for tempura? We already had ramen this week Obito, maybe next time."

It seemed to be a good decision.

Naruto watched them head out, his mind wandering back to when he last had ramen. Sakura and Sai weren't as good of company as this Team Seven, but he wasn't putting an effort to talk to them either. It felt odd now that they were fully grown, Kakashi was out on his own missions, Sasuke was over at Sound, and it was just them three.

He felt a little guilty when he thought about how much he'd rather spend time here.

"Naruto!" Minato called to him. "Are you coming?"

Naruto blinked, touched. The four waited for him expectantly.

"Uh—Yeah." He smiled softly. "Sure."

* * *

_Wanna be my hero and review?_


	4. Butterfly

_Okay, x'd lines mean time jump. Regular dots are regular breaks. My head hurts. Gah. What kind of story would this be if you could see the plot automatically, huh? Its gotta build up y'know. Also, KISHI'S NEW CHAPTERS KILL MY PLOT. So ignore them. The whole thing where they reveal Yondaime's death? DOES NOT APPLY_

* * *

Naruto awoke to a dizzying headache, which already set him into a foul mood. That, and he had accidentally crashed in a tree instead of just renting a hotel like normal sane people. Sane people didn't include ninja though, for Naruto knew more then a few of them who had sprawled onto the local foliage on more then one occasion.

Though they were practical to a degree, trees were generally… well, hard with rough bark, and didn't make for the most pleasant of beds. That, and there was no complimentary soap. But there wasn't a hotel in the world which could fully capture the beauty of waking up in the morning on the loftiest branch to the sun peelings its way into a navy sky. Just look at it made a brief moment in which Naruto forgot all his troubles, stretched out on one of the highest branches, just swaying with the wind.

He had to get down eventually, though, before the bees came out of the nest above him.

Minato had something about leaving to take his now more experienced team onto a higher classed mission. It was quite close to the inauguration, which happened a day prior, but Minato was, well, Minato, and he was going to be needed just as much today as every other day. The world always seemed to need him.

He leapt off the branch and landed on the ground far below, cracking his knees in the process with a satisfying crick.

The morning was perfect for a lazy maundering around town, without people stopping to glare at him. Or maybe he was just having too much fun pretending he was incognito all the time. Still, taking a stroll without glares or crude remarks was nice, and in fact, most of the people seemed rather nice to him. And some looked at him curiously.

Maybe it was just his disturbing similarity to the Fourth.

Speaking of the Yondaime, without him around, the past seemed exactly like the present. People didn't really change. Perhaps the style was a bit different twenty years in the past, but civilians were still civilians and ninja were still ninja, and therefore little about Konoha was different. In fact, Naruto was getting a bit bored.

His steps were leisurely, and he made his way around with no particular destination in mind. He ended up with a stroll completely through town, seeing little kids run by him he was _sure _he'd met in the future as his older peers, a just-opened bookshop dedicated solely to Jiraiya's 'literary works of art', and stores that he'd never seen before that had closed down before he ever got the chance to peruse them.

Speaking of those so called literary art, Naruto really had to wonder—did Kakashi read them yet?

If so, he was one perverted young boy, who would grow to be a super-pervert old man.

It was natural as Uzumaki Naruto that eventually he'd find himself seated in one of the stools at Ichiraku, even though he'd never made the decision to go there. Ah, his subconscious. Always a step ahead of him.

"Can I get anything for you?" A young Teuchi asked him. Naruto was disturbed to see him without wrinkles.

"Just a Miso Ramen, please."

"Alright, coming right up."

Ramen in the morning always smelt the best. Naruto smiled ruefully. Soon it wouldn't be just Teuchi alone in the back preparing food—a young, chirpy Ayame would soon join him. Naruto wondered what Teuchi would think if he'd told him; would he be surprised? Probably not. Maybe loving to cook ramen was genetic, just like loving to eat ramen.

They were such a good parent-child pair… Naruto had always wondered if he'd be as good with his father if his father had been alive.

There was a time when he'd doubted it. He hadn't been particularly enamored with the thought of his father after he'd found out who he really was. There'd even been a time when Naruto had wanted so badly for his father to be the Yondaime, the hero of Konoha which they learned so much about at the academy. If his father was the Fourth Hokage, no one would make fun of him—and certainly not push him around. But after finding out it was the Yondaime who'd done this to him, and in turn, that the man was his father, he'd lost most of his fascination, until it only became a distant curiosity.

Jiraiya had argued the man's case to Naruto before, though the blonde had never listened particularly.

"_It's not like you to care so little," Jiraiya had frowned sternly._

_Though Naruto had had no words to tell him. "I'm just… not interested." The—at the time—Chuunin had shrugged. "Was he blonde?"_

"_Wh—uh, yes. Yes he was."_

"_Blue-eyed?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And my mother?"_

"_Kushina? Oh, she had this fiery red hair. Blue eyes too, but they were lighter—more green."_

"_Huh."_

"_That's it?" Jiraiya had blinked in disbelief. "No reasons? No, 'why'? Do you even care at all?"_

"_Not really, no." He couldn't not when these people had given him up to the demon ready to destroy the world. And maybe he was being a bit obtuse, and maybe a bit stubborn. But honestly, when it came down to it, he didn't want to know them. To understand them. Not when the betrayal stung so much._

"_You know, he did what he had to." Jiraiya began, anyway. "There was nothing that could stop the Kyuubi—no Summon, no Jutsu… That your father could even come up with a way to somehow stop it was a stroke of genius in itself. He was a great man, Naruto. A fantastic leader and an honorable person. He'd have wanted to know you—he'd have been so _proud _of you—_

"_Honestly, Jiraiya." Naruto sighed. "It's fine. Can we stop talking about this?"_

_Jiraiya watched him carefully with saddened eyes—as if it hurt to know that his student's living legacy held his own father in so little disregard. _

"_If that's what you want."_

Of course, meeting the man in person changed his perspective, Naruto mused over his ramen. Though he hadn't quite thought of him as his father in anything more than vague interest in the obvious genetic inheritance he'd received, he could admit personally to himself that Jiraiya was right—he wasn't a _bad _man. Obviously it wasn't intentional to make the first ten years of Naruto's life a brutal uphill struggle. Maybe he'd even felt some ounce of regret, sealing that monster into his own kid.

The most ironic part was, Minato even seemed to _like _him.

Perhaps the one person in the entire world who held Minato in a flat, impassive regard was the one person that Minato seemed the most charitable to. He'd insisted on Naruto coming to dinner with them, and joining them around the stalls. And while the younger blonde certainly hadn't protested, Naruto wouldn't quite call it an outing he was enthused over.

He loved Team Seven though, that was for sure. Everything about Obito had him amused. Everything about Rin had him smiling. Even Kakashi, who generally made an ass out of himself and tried to keep to himself had Naruto attempting to draw him out.

Perhaps Jiraiya was wrong. Maybe anchoring to this time hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

It was certainly a learning experience. And wasn't what the old man always preached about?

"Thanks for the food." Naruto smiled to Teuchi as he paid for his ramen.

The man waved as he left.

He wandered aimlessly around the streets, unsure of what to do in which he had so little problems. There were no personal issues to resolve, to Sasuke looming in the forever distant horizon, no Sakura to watch him with those heartbreaking eyes. And perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. He certainly didn't want to go back yet. His time felt like a far-off dream, some sort of scattered memory he could hazily recall, but mostly didn't want to. He didn't want to admit it, but maybe he liked it better here in the past. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so jovial—so carefree.

And then, of course, there was Namikaze Minato, one of the key points in his life—to his existence—that didn't even know he was one yet.

"What the—_ohmygod_! Eeek! Get out of here you _pervert_!"

Naruto looked up.

With a smack that could have rattled the surface of the planet, Jiraiya went flying out of the bushes, only to roll lifelessly onto the pavement. A couple people around stopped to gasp and point scandalously. The old pervert himself didn't seem to have changed much. He was still, well, old, with a mane of gray hair, and obviously a lecherous streak a mild wide.

The Sannin jumped to his feet as if he was quite used to this treatment, and barreled right past him, as did the angered women who followed soon after.

Naruto smiled.

Some things never changed.

The street the bathhouse was located on exited out to the western gate, the large walls looking as if they hadn't aged at all. Naruto wondered if there was even anything powerful enough to take them down. Orochimaru's snakes at the Chuunin exams had only crumbled a bit of them—but the whole thing? Was there a Jutsu that existed that could do that? Maybe, but Naruto had no intentions of facing it down.

Two Chuunin were lounging near the edges of the large opening, and Naruto didn't envy them standing in the mid-day sweltering heat on guard duty. He'd missed that with his automatic promotion, luckily.

He was halfway to the other side when another Chuunin flew out of the forest, looking completely out of breath.

"There's trouble on the western border!" The man gasped, bending onto his knees.

The three on guard duty stood to attention. "What? Were you on patrol? Which squadron?"

"Red squad." The man panted. "And—yeah, we were. It's the team dispatched earlier this morning with Hokage-sama!"

At this, the air seemed to still as the assembled group quickly realized how serious the situation may be.

"They were near the Iwa border… around the Valley of the End—it was an ambush! My team's out helping them, but they need reinforcments. I—I," He took a shuddering breath, "I came as fast as I could but I—

"We'll send a team out immediately. Kota, contact HQ and get an ANBU squad over there ASAP!"

Naruto blinked.

Iwa?

Hokage?

He didn't bother to hear the rest of the conversation—he dropped his leftovers from Ichiraku, patted himself down to make sure he was fully equipped, took two steps and then flew into the trees before the Chuunin could even notice.

He was well acquainted with the long and grueling path to the Valley of the End, and, just like when he'd made it all those years ago, it was still nerve wracking and filled with anxious impatience.

Naruto wasn't sure why each step felt like it was ten years too slow, why it even really _mattered _to him, especially when he'd just been musing as to how little he cared for his father, and yet here he was, bolting out into the middle of the forest after him.

There wasn't even a logical reason to be worried. Minato wasn't considered one of the strongest Shinobi in the world for no reason, and he already had a reputation for scaring the shit out of the Iwa-nin with his name only. And while certainly Kakashi wasn't the one-thousand copy-nin, he wasn't useless. And Rin and Obito? Well they definitely didn't suck, that was for sure.

And yet, even so, ever since he had chased down Sasuke, he hadn't held this much fear in his heart as he did now.

.

.

.

Rin whipped her head around. "S—Sensei! Watch out!"

The kunai missed its mark, and Rin breathed a sigh of relief. She shouldn't have been so tense, it was Minato-sensei after all, but they'd been fighting for a long time now, and if exhaustion was getting to her, who ran at a normal human speed, she couldn't imagine how it felt to him, who ran at a rate ten times as fast.

She dispatched her enemy with a swift blow to the back of the head, trying to listen to the sounds of Kakashi and Obito fighting a distance away over the sound of her fiercely beating heart.

When had that guy left for reinforcements? Like, an hour ago?

Rin was cursing that idiot's slowness, and for that matter, his useless team who hadn't done much aside from divert the enemy's attention. She didn't know where they were—though she suspected their whereabouts were somewhere on the ground.

"I'm fine, Rin-chan!" Minato gave an exhausted little smile, before sending a flurry of kunai whipping past her and into the enemy lines, so fast she couldn't even make them out as they slid past her.

It had been an ambush. Apparently, the Iwa-nin had already got wind of Sensei's inauguration. Minato wouldn't be starting office until a few more weeks because the Sandaime still had much to do before he retired, but it had already been stated that when he did step down, Minato would take his place.

"How'd they know so fast, sensei?" She panted under her breath.

"I don't know." He sighed to her. "But it really wasn't much of a secret."

Back in the war, there had been flee-on-sight orders at the very name of Namikaze Minato. When they'd gotten such a backbone Rin didn't know, but they certainly weren't keeping to those orders. Team Seven had been on what was supposed to be a regular C-Class retrieval mission, only to find the Konoha ANBU they were supposed to get the scroll off of murdered, with a small legion of Iwa-nin in their wake.

Looping two three-pronged kunai in his fingers, Minato flicked them into the crowd.

Without another look at his student, his Hirashin was tearing up their numbers.

Rin watched in astonishment. She could never get over the awe she had at her Sensei's speed—just like the rumors, she could only catch a faint blur of yellow before it was gone completely, leaving nothing but butchered bodies in its wake. The numbers were dropping steadily—but not at a pace that they could keep for long. The four were holding out for reinforcements; there was no other alternative, aside from taking their chances at fleeing.

_How were they supposed to win this?_ she thought worriedly. Even with Sensei, who was crushing through their numbers, the odds still seemed slim.

Minato finally skidded to a halt, breathing labored. The Iwa-nin were regrouping, and a slight standstill gave both sides a chance to recover strength.

It was then she saw it.

From the opposite side of the field, one of the bodies on the ground had begun to stir. There was a glimmer of metal, and then—

"Sensei!" She screamed, but it was too late.

He hadn't aimed for the head, which would have caught Minato's attention quicker when at his eye level, but at the leg. The blow wasn't critical, but it was enough to cripple the use of Hirashin.

Minato recoiled in shock as he realized he'd been hit, sending shuriken to the Nin that had hit him. The man was dead, but he had gotten the winning hit.

"Sensei…" Rin gasped, fear welling in her stomach.

He pulled the kunai out of his leg with a wince, dispatching Kage Bunshin to stall the enemies.

Rin rushed to her sensei, quickly trying to heal the wound.

It had cut deep, cutting a few tendons and horrendously close to the bone. As Rin worked furiously with the chakra she had left, tears brimming her eyes, she realized she wouldn't be able to heal it enough. It'd take at least a day or so until Minato could walk upright, let alone fight an outnumbered battle and use Hirashin.

"How does it look Rin?" He asked hoarsely, watching the battle and throwing kunai when it seemed appropriate.

She shook her head. "I can close it…but you won't be able to move it a lot."

Her sensei hissed under his breath, in what may have been a curse.

Her other two teammates looked up from their battle.

"Sensei!"

Called Obito worriedly, in the midst of a Katon jutsu.

"Look out idiot!" Rin screamed at him.

He quickly turned back to his battle, catching one of the shinobi which had dodged his fireball at an awkward angle with his blade. Kakashi scowled at him, as he struck for his teammate and dispatched the enemy. The three others dropped from their trees and the ten or so Kakashi was fighting came closer. Thirteen on two, the odds didn't look very good.

Rin turned her attention back to her own fight, where her sensei had sent a Doton into the fray.

"Rin…" Minato gasped, hitching himself onto one leg, and attempting to get a feel for the other. "Get out of here. You, Obito, and Kakashi."

Rin blinked at him, eyes wide. "Y—You're serious…" She studied his expression, before exploding, "No way! I won't leave! I'm—I'm not going to leave you here knowing you won't make it back."

The Fourth Hokage gave her an exasperated, but morbid look. "Rin—

"I'm not leaving!" She insisted. "And I know that Obito and Kakashi would never, ever abandon you in battle either."

"This has nothing to do with deserting your comrades." Minato breathed heavily. "This is for your safety—I should't have brought you guys out here… it was too soon—

"This isn't your fault!" Said Rin, shock furrowing her brows. "How could you think this is your fault? Sensei—we're not going to leave you here. We'll fight it out—and, and figure something out—

"Rin—

"I'm not leaving!" She interrupted, shouting.

The Fourth frowned, but his student was dead set.

However, the battle in front of them wasn't going very well. Minato was already low on reserves—he'd overused the Hirashin, but it wasn't nearly enough. Obito and Kakashi had managed between the two of them; their teamwork keeping them above the water. Rin was here with him, already weakened from healing them so many times and from using her own jutsu.

In short, they were all going to die.

Oddly, he found his thoughts moving to Naruto.

That half-smile he gave when his eyes were distant, like he was looking somewhere far away where Minato couldn't follow. The ocean color of his eyes, so much like his own. The way he appraised Minato as a person, not as some sort of legendary demigod, some sort of hero.

Minato squeezed his eyes shut. He shouldn't be thinking about this now! Why was he giving up? Why did he think of Naruto in these last few moments—a boy he'd barely met and yet there was such a strong pull that he felt with him. He wasn't thinking of Rin, Obito, or Kakashi. Wasn't' thinking of Jiraiya, who had just returned to see him and congratulate him. Didn't think of the Sandaime, who'd have to work so many more years because he'd be dead. Not of Kushina, who would be crying over his grave until the day she died.

He thought of Naruto.

Now they were losing a battle against what seemed to be hundreds, whether an exaggeration or not.

He'd never see him again.

"Don't even _fucking _think about it!"

Minato's eyes pried themselves open into a sea of fire.

Rin stopped shivering in the midst of a sea of enemy ninja, eyes opening to see a world drenched in crimson. She didn't think she'd ever seen so much fire in her life. The entire sky seemed to have churned into hell itself, and when she looked up there were no clouds, no sun, just burning _fire._

It wasn't the sky on fire.

It was the world.

An enormous pillar of searing hot flames erupted from the middle of the lines of burning ninja, swaying in the wind and flickering in the sky until everything seemed like it was burning, and there was a man in the middle of it with a shocking head of blonde hair, and for a moment she thought, _Minato_? But Minato had never seen so inhuman, had never stood so silently amidst a world full of flames, had never watched her with monstrous red eyes, never had a face like—

Like Naruto.

She blinked, eyes squinted from the intense light, attempting to make out the figure again. But that enormous pillar—tail, maybe?—of fire swung her way again, and blocked her vision of the center of the field.

"Rin—!" Minato called, limping with one leg and arm over his eyes. "What's going on? Can you see anything?"

"I…" She trailed off, attempting to see once more. "I thought—I thought I saw…"

"It doesn't matter now!" Her Sensei shouted. "Get back! Hurry!"

She stumbled away, grabbing the Yondaime before he could injure himself further attempting to walk, and making for a safer distance, away from the flames which seemed to eat everything with rapture.

They made it to the tree line and she was already sweating from the morbid, ungodly heat. She couldn't stop trembling, looking into the sky where fire took to the air like some sort of enormous wing. The heat was unbearable and she was _exhausted _and her eyes stung from trying to stare into the fire for too long, and Minato was next to her looking lifeless, sprawled in front of the tree with lidded eyes, breathing heavily and she didn't even know where Obito and Kakashi were, but she could only hope they'd made it out of their in time before everything had exploded into fire and then—

It was gone.

The fire seemed to crumble out of existence as wind rattled past her, stealing her breath and gathering it to the center where a maelstrom took the place of what was once an ocean of flames, the fire burned out with the wind that took its place.

And then, nothing.

She collapsed into darkness.

Minato had not, though.

He had a clear shot of the destruction, trees splintering with the wind, the flames snuffed out as his breath was stolen, saw the wind tighten into a man's palm, a perfect azure sphere, spinning with the power of a hurricane, whipping the charred landscape with a stinging wind that lapped at the edges of the field.

Was that—?

It couldn't be.

Not the Rasengan.

All he'd have were memories to study, because it was gone before he could fully inspect it. But he could never mistake his original technique. There wasn't any other kind like it in the world.

So then, what was that?

The burned foliage had been shredded as if stretched by a tornado, the grass uprooted into scars of dirt and the roasted bodies smoldered. But Minato wasn't remotely bothered by all of this. What disturbed him was the shock of lemon colored hair he could see from here, on a man that seemed to have a perturbing like—

"Naruto?" He called out into the scorched earth, and he could have sworn that back had stiffened.

Naruto.

Minato blinked.

He couldn't tell from his place pushed back by the wind, squinting through it, to see that Naruto's eyes were bloodshot red.

Or that his hands were claws.

All he knew was that Naruto—Naruto who said he was nothing more than a barely passing Jounin who had come back from a tiring reconnaissance mission, who smiled with him and his team, who he _cared _for—had just used his ultimate technique. One he made up, and one that no one else in the entire _world _would ever know about.

And he had used it better than he could have.

Suddenly, from his distance Minato could see Naruto's eyes flutter closed, as he dropped onto the ground in one swift motion.

"Naruto!"

Despite his injuries, Minato ran to the boy, who was breathing heavy, collapsed on him amidst the destruction he had created.

"Naruto." He said softer as he approached the boy. "Naruto, are you okay?"

The boy made a move to stand, but Minato quickly made a move to press him back down, despite his wince at his own injuries.

"Urgh…stupid seal…wasting my chakra…"

It sounded like a bunch of gibberish, so Minato brushed it off.

"Naruto, we're going to take you back to the hospital okay? Naruto?"

The boy had stopped mumbling, slipping into the unconsciousness that could only be chakra exhaustion.

"Minato-sensei!" Obito called as he ran up into the clearing, looking frightened by the carnage. He gave a furtive, worried, and perhaps even frightened, look to Naruto. "What happened?"

Kakashi jogged up behind him, and Minato was relieved to see them both okay.

He coughed, attempting to keep himself conscious for a little while longer.

"Naruto he—

"Sensei." Kakashi's voice was cold as he spoke, but his eyes spoke volumes. "That fire… and that move…" He looked alarmed. "What _was _that?"

Minato shook his head. "Don't know."

"To be honest," Obito began, looking just as bothered as Kakashi. "I thought it sort of looked like… the Rasengan."

"Rasengan?" Kakashi echoed. He looked at Minato. "Sensei, isn't that _your _technique?"

"Yeah…" The Fourth breathed.

Obito was watching Naruto with a discomforted expression, as if he wasn't sure what to make of him. Uchiha's were born into fire—the Goukakyuu was a testimony to an Uchiha's strength. But that had been like standing in an inferno, some sort of inhuman sun scorching in front of him. His face still felt hot, even as that wind had snuffed all the fire out.

The Yondaime couldn't blame him. It was mind blowing, even to Minato.

"Let's get back." He said eventually, picking up Naruto's limp form. "We've got to get to a hospital."

His team couldn't help but agree.

.

.

.

The only thing establishing dreams from reality was the steady, slow beeping of Naruto's monitor some feet away from him. Minato didn't remember how long he'd been there, and usually the noise would have agitated him. But he welcomed it now. It meant that Naruto was still alive. It was strange though, to see his face unmarred in false sleep, the dark lashes and the curve of his nose which seemed so familiar. It looked quite a bit like Minato's, but his was more straight in the middle while Naruto's had a more feminine curve. Probably his mother's nose.

_Why _Minato was musing on Naruto's genetic features was beyond him, but probably had something to do with the fact they were so similar to his own.

But to be honest, Minato was almost relieved Naruto wasn't awake.

What would he say if he was?

It had been four days or so, and Minato hadn't exactly been confined to bed rest, but he certainly wasn't allowed to leave. Which was fine by him, because all he did for the past three days was sit in Naruto's hospital room, hearing the monotonous machine and watching the pale form that still didn't have the flush of color from health.

"Minato-kun?"

The voice of the Third Hokage startled him, as he sat upright in the chair he had been slouching in.

"Sandaime-sama!" Minato blinked in surprise. "Y—You're here?"

"You gave me quite the scare when I heard you had been injured—I can't imagine another twenty years with all that paperwork." Sandaime smiled. "How are you?"

Minato shook his head. "I'm fine just… have you heard anything from the doctors?"

"It's just chakra exhaustion." The Sandaime informed patiently. "Except that Naruto-san has extremely enormous chakra reserves—about four times that of normal shinobi. For the past couple days before this incident, he was working on low reserves."

Low reserves? Naruto had seemed fine. "Why is that, Hokage-sama?"

The Sandaime chucked at the 'Hokage' part, but continued nonetheless. "I don't know exactly, but whatever he had done was extremely hard on his reserves, and was something that most humans could not attempt."

His eyes traveled to the sleeping boy.

"The doctors say he will wake up soon, and I must say I'm grateful. There's much to be learned from him."

Minato blinked. "Like what?"

The smile that the Hokage gave him was a very odd one. "Minato-kun, have you ever thought of children?"

To say the Yondaime was startled would be an understatement. "…what?"

The Hokage—as of present—shook his head. "Ah, never mind."

He strode closer to Naruto, until he was right next to his bed, standing above him.

"There are many things we need to discus with him." The Sandaime said eventually, his voice carrying an odd tone. "There are things that we will only find out from he himself, and nothing with tests and medicine will do much for our questions."

The Fourth-to-be didn't know much about what the Sandaime was saying, but he nodded anyways.

Carefully, Sarutobi pushed back the covers. Minato got up too, more or less to see what exactly the Third Hokage was doing. Naruto had bandages running up his right arm, even then there were times when the burns could be seen, sweltering red against his tanned skin. The boy looked so much younger as he lay still on the sheets, nothing more than breath rattling in him that kept him looking alive.

The Third pushed up Naruto's hospital shirt very slowly, as to not wake the boy.

"There."

Minato leaned in closer, eyes widening at what he saw.

It pulsed in time to the boy's heart beat, the black kanji fading into his skin before returning with much vigor, almost as if it lifted above the boy's skin and into translucent tendrils above him. It was magnificent, like looking at a work of art that was so rare that it awed everyone that had ever seen it. This seal could be considered a work of art, Minato had never seen anything like it. Ever. Jiraiya would be impressed if he saw the intricacy of such a seal.

"What is it?" He whispered.

The Sandaime shook his head. "I haven't the slightest idea."

Minato leaned closer, watching the seal pulse, fade, and then pulse again. Soon, his hand was nearing the seal, the swirl in the middle that seemed so oddly familiar.

He was close, about to touch it when—

"Don't _touch _it."

The voice was deep and low, almost a growl.

Minato retracted his hand immediately, standing upright and staring down with surprise into Naruto's face. There was something burning—fear?—in his eyes, which weren't the blue they normally were, but a a deep Prussian with pupils that looked like pinpricks.

* * *

_Big machine… GGD! _


	5. Shindoukaku

"Alright.." Minato backed away hastily, hands up in what he assumed to be the universal surrender. "I won't."

The way Naruto was watching him with unreadable, impassive eyes made rethink his assumption.

The Sandaime retained his pensive expression as Minato gazed guiltily at the now awake blonde, seeming to take this all in thought and turn it slowly in his head. Perhaps analyzing the blonde—who knew. The Sandaime had the veritable reputation of being quite the astute psychoanalyst, a trait he used derisively during his career.

Again, that slight tug to the bottom of his gut sharpened as he thought about the Sandaime; about his illustrious long-winded career as a ninja that, still, lingered in the after taste of each Fire Nation breath, long after he'd stopped being _just _a ninja. Minato was aware that the Sandaime had high hopes for him, and thought him more then qualified for the job.

But Minato wasn't so sure himself.

After all, all he saw on the bed was a slightly frightened, defensive teenager, though surely the Sandaime saw something else.

"Minato." Sarutobi began slowly.

The blonde broke out of his thoughts. "Hokage-sama?"

"Would you mind excusing us for a moment?" Hiruzen began with a slight quirking to his lips. "I believe our young friend may have some important information for me—though I don't think he'd be comfortable sharing it with you."

The brief flare of jealousy that erupted with the words was quickly crushed by Minato. It shouldn't be any of his concern if Sarutobi had something personal with this boy—after all, who was he to say anything about it? They'd only met recently… he surely wasn't anyone of importance in Naruto's life…

"Of course." He answered easily enough, swallowing through the lump in his throat.

Though his joints felt stiff as he exited the room, closing the door behind him, closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, as if finally releasing all the pressure and tension that seemed to hover heavily over the room.

Then his eyes snapped open.

Two pairs of guilt-ridden eye stared up at him from his two students on their hands and knees, pressed against the door.

"You two…" Minato sighed, exasperated.

Obito leapt to his feet with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head as Rin shamefully crawled off the floor.

"We were just wondering if Naruto was okay." The girl began hastily. "We knew he had woken up but then the Sandaime—

"Why's the Sandaime in Naruto's room?-!" Obito interrupted excitedly. "What's going on? Anything cool?"

Minato wished he knew himself.

"No," He waved him off. "Not that I know of."

"Oh." Obito drooped, though he still looked mildly curious. "So why _is _the Sandaime in there?"

"Good question." Minato quipped, wondering the same himself. Not for the first time, he was a little annoyed at getting left out of the loop. "I guess he wanted to ask Naruto some questions."

Rin snapped up with wide eyes. "Is Naruto getting in trouble?" She asked, frightened.

"…I'm not sure." Minato admitted. Well, he didn't think so…

"Why would the Sandaime get mad at Naruto?" Obito rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Naruto was so bad ass! I'm sure it's nothing."

And then, with excitement. "Maybe he's getting a medal!"

Minato shook his head, smile dry of all emotion. "Who knows. Why don't we head to the cafeteria though? I could use some food…"

"Of course, Sensei!" Rin piped up, grabbing him by the hand and physically dragging him down the hall. Obito caught up quick enough, already in better spirits at the thought of food.

.

.

.

"So," The Sandaime began, amiably enough. "Do you mind if I sit down, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's eyes never once strayed from the elder shinobi, never once blinked. His heart seemed caught in a cage three sizes too small, attempting to struggle its way out with rapid movement. "Uh—…no sure, go ahead."

Hiruzen nodded, pulling a chair next to the bed. "Now, Naruto-kun—you don't mind if I call you that, do you?"

"It's fine." Naruto answered quickly.

"Ah well alright then, Naruto-kun." The man crossed his legs, pulling out his pipe from one of the assorted pockets dotting the inside of his robe, a small flame flickering to life at his fingers—a technique he'd pass down to Naruto at some point. "I figured we may as well get comfortable with each other—I've been told we were very close at some point."

There was a moment in which Naruto said nothing at all, blinking the first time since he'd woken up.

Then his eyes widened.

"I'm sorry—?" His mouth attempted to make more words, but nothing came out. Instead, he sat up higher on the pillows, and tried to swallow all the confusion in his throat. "Err—what I mean is… how did you—?"

"Let me tell you a story, Naruto." Hiruzen smiled graciously. "Would you like to hear it?"

The blonde rigorously nodded.

"I met a boy just like you, once." The Sandaime began, after a great heave of his pipe. The thick vanilla smell wafted into the room. "He had blonde hair, perhaps a bit wilder, and three scars on his cheeks. He'd just began the end to something very tragic, I'd think. He had an expression to his face that I couldn't quite decipher—quite a feat for me, you must understand. There are very few people I can't read clearly."

Naruto only nodded numbly; listening with rapture.

"At any rate, he explained to me that I would be seeing a lot of him. He asked for my forgiveness—though for what, I'm still not sure. Though I insisted he at least stay for tea, as he'd been in the rain this whole time, he declined. He continued to assure me that we'd be seeing a lot of one another, and that we would have quite a lot of tea. He sounded so sure of himself."

The Sandaime ashed his pipe, still not looking at the blonde on the bed.

"That was twenty years ago." Naruto's eyes widened. "Just after the end of the first Shinobi War. He didn't make much sense to me at the time, this grim man in the rain. I thought him just another ninja, lost after a tumultuous war."

"Imagine my surprise when I met him a few years later, in a watermelon patch with my newly appointed Gennin team. But he was different, you see. He was unsure and confused—just as confused as I was. There was no recognition in his eyes; this was a man who had never met me. How strange then, that I remembered his face and his scars from a lifetime ago. And now, in a hospital bed, after apparently saving four of my shinobi."

Naruto only looked down, unsure of what to say—of even where to begin.

"Now, I don't require any answers from you, Naruto." Ended the Sandaime magnanimously. "I'm aware that your doings are your own. I've come to some of my own conclusions—and quite honestly, I know enough not to question you."

And then, with a smirk, "After all, it's never a good idea to mess with time."

Naruto looked down guiltily, rubbing at his arm. "Yeah… I guess I really fucked things up, huh?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "No—you're embarking on a journey entirely of your own. I've seen the ending, and the beginning too, I suppose. But the middle is up to you."

"And you'll let me go?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Just like that?"

"What will happen, will happen." Advised the old man tenderly. "Who am I to get in the way of that?"

Though it made quite a bit of sense, Naruto could imagine Jiraiya having quite a few _different _words to say to that. He didn't truly believe the words himself. What did this mean? Sarutobi had just imparted some of a future that had never happened to him yet—at least, part of his future. To the Sandaime, it was all in the past.

How very confusing.

"Is there anything I should tell our young friend out there?" Sandaime changed conversation quickly, the last of his pipe smoking in the air.

Naruto snapped back to the man. "Friend—?" And then, "Oh, you mean Minato?"

The man would probably have quite a few questions.

"To be careful." Naruto decided upon finally. "And… and to believe in himself, and follow his dreams."

Naruto blinked away the burn in his eyes, wondering where in himself this was drudging up from. Perhaps some part of him he'd buried deep beneath his mind, where it could be treasured and forgotten. This unconditional love he used to hold for the dream he used to have. For the father he had imagined for himself.

"Sound advice. Perhaps he could use some of your confidence, Naruto. For such an able man, he has very little for himself." The Sandaime noted. "And though I'm sure you already know Naruto-kun, my office is open for all those who need it."

"I –I know." Naruto smiled, wondering how it was possible for one to man to change so little. That was the thing with old men—they didn't change.

Just as the Sandaime turned to leave, fear bubbled into his mouth.

"What if…"

Naruto's soft voice halted the Sandaime in his tracks.

"What if I'm messing everything up?" Naruto wondered aloud, brokenly, the majority of his deepest fears so forthcoming in the face of his wise teacher and beloved Hokage, lost so long ago. "What if the future I make is wrong? If it's a terrible ending that I don't want?"

"You can't change destiny, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi counseled, before pausing. "Though, I suppose, if anyone could, it would be you."

The moment the Sandaime opened the door, he was met with three sheepish faces right on the other side. The old man blinked at their stupidly smiling faces, Team Seven quite obviously aware they'd been caught trying to listen in. Good thing that the Sandaime had made sure to use a silencing Jutsu beforehand, for Minato's acute ears would have surely heard everything.

"Everyone's okay then?" Sarutobi smiled.

Obito and Rin nodded, blushing. The old man turned to Minato. "And you as well?"

"I've been fine for a while." Minato said honestly, rubbing at his hair. "They're just keeping me here for precaution, I guess."

"Well it's good to see you well, my friend." And then, turning to his young teammates. "And how good it is to see you two as well! I take it neither of you were injured?"

"No sir." Rin and Obito answered in perfect unison, looking too cowed by the Sandaime's immediate presence for their usual bravado.

With that, the old Hokage walked off, only giving a meaningful look to his successor as he passed.

Minato wondered what wisdom the man was trying to impart on him, before shaking it off and heading towards Naruto.

"What'd he talk to you about?" Minato asked quietly. "Your mission?"

Naruto paused. "Yeah, something like that." He answered vaguely. "He just... gave me a lot to think about."

Minato hummed in agreement. "He does that a lot, doesn't he?" And, to Naruto's questioning look, "Seem like he knows everything, I mean."

"He does." Naruto agreed.

"People really look up to him around here…" Minato sighed wistfully, wondering how long it would be for them to do the same to him. Not that he didn't have the village's adoration; no, they seemed to like him quite a bit. But he didn't quite feel like he'd earned the respect quite yet. Not of many of the veteran shinobi, anyway. Many of them thought him a young upstart who had connived the elderly Hokage into the position.

"They'll do the same to you." Naruto told him, for once quite honestly. "You'll be a village hero too."

Minato frowned. "How can you be so sure of that?"

And the other blonde only gave him that confusing, capricious smile. "Intuition, I suppose."

"Naruto!"

Obito barreled head first into the room, noodles hanging limply from his mouth and ramen broth spilling onto Rin, who squawked at the scalding water. The two traipsed in, assortment of food and all, leaping onto stools and making themselves comfortable. Minato only watched fondly as his team proceeded to bombard the blonde with an uncomfortable amount of questions.

It was strange, the blonde thought idly, watching Minato snap his fingers in Obito's face.

The Uchiha perked up—such emotion to his pale face, so unlike Sasuke's impassive features—quickly and turned to his Sensei, who was smiling with bemusement. Rin was handing him chocolate mochi, keeping all the strawberry for herself and leaving all the green tea ones untouched. Naruto was equally thankful for them, even though he'd charged mouth first into the extra bowl Obito had brought along with him.

Thankful that she'd even think to bring him any.

To _include _him.

.

.

.

Obito somehow managed to wrangle Team Seven, plus Naruto and minus Kakashi (who was stuck in the hospital with what seemed to be a terrible bout of infection) into the ramen stand, crowding the small stall with the four of them, but making Teuchi into one happy man.

"Serves him right." The bottomless pit was saying around his noodles; the fourth bowl of the day, apparently. "I always tell him to spray some disinfectant—but he thinks he's too _cool _for that kind of stuff. That stupid kid." Obito snorted, referring to said sick teammate.

"_You're _a stupid kid too." Rin pointed out with spite. "And don't be so mean to Kakashi! Y'know, nurse Ranma told me that he was hallucinating. Isn't that crazy? Poor Kakashi…"

But Obito only choked on his laughter. "Oh _god_! That's priceless—what about? Ne, Rin-chan, let's visit him tomorrow okay? …And bring your camera."

"No!" Shrieked Rin, shocked.

Minato was seated next to Naruto, looking down at his broth. But Naruto could make out his sour expression—like he was fighting off his smile.

He couldn't keep his mind off of what the Sandaime had said. He hadn't given Naruto more to think about, he _blew his mind. _Did that mean he'd time travel even more in the future? Was this some sort of ominous prophecy of things to come? He couldn't even wrap his mind around it. He'd heard about the future from someone who'd lived it in the past. Did that make sense?

_Could _it make sense?

"You okay there, Naruto?"

The blonde blinked, mirrored winsor blue eyes staring back at him with concern.

"You look a bit pale." Minato added as an afterthought. Though it was a little hard to tell with the tan the other blonde was sporting. This close though, the Yondaime could make out the almost grayish shade of blue to the other's eyes, the speckle of Prussian around the iris and the spray of almost-freckles lined around his lashes.

"I'm fine!" Naruto waved him off hastily, taking a long gulp of the leftover broth in his bowl.

Well he was certainly eating healthily, that was for sure.

The blonde Jounin from the future wiped at his mouth with his sleeve, thoughts suddenly twisting to the Hokage in front of him.

Who'd have thought that the infamous Yondaime, one of the most renowned Hokage in recent history—could be so insecure? To think, that the fearless man of history was scared of the opinions of a handful of civilians. Albeit, Konoha may be a bit more then a handful… but the man faced down the Nine-Tailed demon fox. Surely he hadn't been scared then… right?

Naruto's eyes lingered on the other blonde, who had turned to grab Obito under his arm for a vicious noogie, Rin's howl of laughter muted by his own thoughts.

Surely, at the very end… he hadn't regretted it?

Naruto had always assumed that Minato had just sort of… thought that he was doing what was best for his people, had just kind of thought that the village would think of the blonde as some sort of hero, and that life would carry on happily. But a small part of him thought back to the Minato against the dim under wash of hospital gray's, sunlight nebulized by the distance in his eyes—_vulnerable. _

By the time he'd surfaced from the murky waters of his musings, Obito was subdued, hair wilder then it had been before, and Rin had regained her breath to lightly pick at her salad once more. Minato was watching the two of them again, with that fond expression he'd had in the hospital.

"You're doing a good job." Naruto found himself saying, wondering why he thought Minato even wanted to hear this.

The Yondaime turned to him, confused. "Huh?"

"With them." He nudged to the man's two Gennin students. "And with Konoha."

For a moment, the older blonde said nothing at all, only wearing a look of vague incomprehension, before a shy, hesitant smile took to his face. "You think so?" He asked quietly.

Naruto felt his gut twist in guilt at the hopefulness in Minato's voice. He'd hated this man for the longest time. Condemned him in his mind for the deepest pit in hell. "Yes." He answered, regardless.

"Iwa's already angry." Minato pointed out, face turning grim. He looked away. "Angry enough to attempt an assassination, even when they hardly have the strength to rebuild."

"Konoha has bigger problems to worry about than Iwagakure." Naruto waved him off. "And they'll cool off, after some negotiations." Most of them, anyway. Naruto knew that even twenty years in the future, Kakashi's name would hold the highest sum in the Iwagakure bingo book.

"You're really knowledgeable about all these politics and stuff." Rin noted shyly, peering over from being Minato's shoulder.

Naruto smiled at her. "I was there for a few years, remember?" And then, with a laugh. "I probably already sound more like a diplomat than a shinobi."

"But you kick _ass _on the battlefield!" Obito crowed.

Naruto only attempted to laugh it off.

"What _was _that technique, anyway?" Rin asked, curiously. "The one that kind of looked like Sensei's?"

At the mention of the Rasengan-like technique they'd seen that day, Minato's curiosity was piqued as well.

"Uh…" Naruto swallowed. "Well uh, it's just something I made up. I have a wind affinity, you see, so it's sort of made to work like a vacuum and—

"And the other one?-!" Obito broke in, and Naruto almost cried in relief at Obito's unbridled excitement—for once coming in handy. "The big fire thingy—

"That's a bloodlimit." Naruto cut in quickly.

"Never seen a bloodlimit like that!"

"There are a lot of them you haven't seen." Minato shushed the Uchiha swiftly, rolling his eyes. "Konoha's not the only place that has them, you know. And think of how many we have, just in the village!"

Rin hummed. "Well there's the Inuzuka, the Akimichi, the Yamanaka… the Nara, the Hyuuga—and the Uchiha, of course!"

Minato nodded sternly. Trust the blonde to turn this into some sort of teacher-student lecture. "That's right. There's lots of them all over the world."

"That's gotta be millions, then!"

"Not that many." The Yondaime chuckled. "They're still fairly uncommon. But there are quite a few." And then, to Naruto. "Where does yours originate from?"

Put on the spot, Naruto could only open his mouth, half words and thoughts tumbling out of his mouth. "Well—uh, I get it from my mother. She, err, well I don't know much about her… but she came from Uzushiogakure, _I think, _but I—

"Uzushiogakure?" Rin gasped, excitedly. "Wow! You know, that place doesn't exist anymore—

While simultaneously, Minato's brows pulled together. "Uzushiogakure—?"

As Obito jumped up; "Wicked!"

Overwhelmed, Naruto only blinked at them all.

And then, finally. "I didn't know it was such a big deal." He croaked out.

"Big deal?" Rin echoed incredulously. "_You're _from Uzushiogakure?"

"Not really." Naruto protested hastily. "My mom's from there, err—well I think she's half from there, anyway, I don't really know—

"Are you a Fuuinjutsu master?" Obito was already half way in his face. "I hear they're all super cool sealing masters!"

"Well yes, but—

"_No way!-!_" Rin had jumped up too, the both of them already _so close _even as Minato attempted to pry them away. "Well then you're absolutely from Uzushiogakure! Have you ever been there? What was it like? Gosh, we learned all about it at the academy and I've always wanted to go—

"Whoa, whoa!" Finally, Minato managed to pry them both away from him, leaving Naruto to breath heavily, feeling like he'd been mauled by rabid attack dogs. "Let's not kill him with questions, huh?"

"Hey, hey!" Rin turned to Minato. "Isn't Kushina-san from Uzushiogakure?"

Minato blinked. "She is." Minato affirmed with a light smile.

Naruto remembered to feign ignorance. "Kushina-san?" He repeated, keeping a touch of confusion in his tone.

"Sensei's _girlfriend." _Rin crooned.

Minato, for his part, was blushing. Though he most definitely was pleased.

Naruto turned to him. "Is that true?"

"Well… yeah…"

"Well I'm sure she's really nice." Naruto commented neutrally, unsure of what else to say. It wasn't like he could just say, _"Yeah I already knew that. She's my mom, you know. Oh, and speaking of which, you're my dad."_

"You should meet her." Minato said, before he could stop himself. At Naruto's surprised face, he realized his words.

There were very few people that were are of Minato's relationship with Kushina. And out of that handful, only Jiraiya was aware of how serious they were. His Team was aware of her, yes. Met her a few times, even. But most certainly weren't aware of her status as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, let alone the fact that Minato found himself contemplating the thought of marrying her. He'd never put himself or her so foolishly in danger by making them official, or by telling anyone, let alone a _stranger _he'd met a few days ago.

Like Naruto.

"Yeah, sure!" The other blonde agreed amiably.

Yet Minato hadn't even hesitated. But why? It wasn't that he didn't trust the blonde, because oddly, the other Jounin had managed to worm his way through most of Minato's defenses. But they had only met a few days prior.

There was something about Naruto.

But what was it?


	6. Crawl

_CRAWLLL. I love veltpunch..._

* * *

When he and Jiraiya had begun their trek out of Konoha, he hadn't expected Sakura to come to say goodbye.

Jiraiya had gone ahead of him, and Sakura had asked him to stay back. She had silently grabbed his hand as he turned to walk through the gates, and, just as silently, he met Jiraiya's eyes. He wasn't sure what message was conveyed in the man's burning gaze, but it almost seemed more than he understood. Nonetheless, the Sannin nodded, turning away and heading off alone.

The sun was just starting its ascension into heaven; the day was new and soft, like a bursting peach of color. The sun a dim, benign presence at the edge of the horizon, Sakura would remember the way Naruto's hair was bright and tousled, bleeding gold at the edges in the early light that painted the ground in long strokes. The way he was almost unidentifiable in this bleeding saffron painting she'd never seen before, with this indomitable protagonist standing like a tragic prelude in the foreground, windy hair and cloudy eyes.

Little did she know that Naruto was appraising the same of her.

Half of her was painted in that same burning light, the other marred by long, narrow shadows tagging at her clothing and the edge of her nose. The determined seaweed green of her eyes, calloused hands and arms lined with medical seals painted to her elbows.

They'd both become heroes in two separate stories.

"Don't look at me like that." He began jokingly, unsure of what else to say. For a moment, he remembered with absurd clarity that it was Sakura who was the last to see Sasuke in Konoha. That it was Sakura who had plead him to stay.

That it was Sakura now, watching him like they were coming up to some sort of crossroad he hadn't been aware was there.

"Like what?" She tilted her head, smile creasing her cheeks. "Like you're about to do something stupid?"

He pulled a face.

Her smile widened. "You are." She nudged him playfully.

"I don't do stupid things like that anymore." He denied. And then added, unhelpfully, "But if the monument ends up neon colored, don't be too surprised."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll blame Konohamaru."

"For that, yes." Naruto nodded. "And when it glows in the dark—then you can blame me."

"You didn't actually do that!" She gave him an incredulous look. Before; "_Did _you?"

"Of course not." Naruto scoffed though really, it was up to debate. "I'm not twelve anymore, Sakura-chan!"

"Sure don't act like it." She teased, smirking.

Her smile fell, then. Naruto wished he could have kept it there, if not for a bit longer. It'd been a long time since he'd seen her smile so wide—like all their concerns mattered so little.

"Naruto I—…"

He braced himself for it; visibly, even. The, _"I'm worried for you"_ and all the, _"I miss you_"'s that would inevitably follow, quickly affirmed with the crestfallen, heart braking look that only Sakura could achieve so unnervingly beautifully.

Instead, it was even worse.

"I believe in you."

If only she hadn't smiled at all—that way, the overwhelming tide of grief wouldn't have knocked him over _and _sent him spiraling down into his own wrenching self-hate.

Because, beneath all those smiles and all those jokes, he'd managed to come to an awareness that had only lingered in the undercurrent of his subconscious. A realization he'd been heading towards, but had attempted to delayed.

That—

He was the first to leave, turning his face into the glowing sun, into the world doused in gold. She turned away as well, into Konoha, creased in shadows.

–He didn't even want to be here.

The hill was so steep that Jiraiya could have posed as a bumbling old hermit, squatting at the top to catch a glimpse of a glorious sunrise.

The old man had already courteously drawn it out himself, and Naruto immediately recognized the design they'd come up with together. The blonde felt a bit of pride knowing that he'd made most of it—Jiraiya had only egged him on a bit, advising but generally leaving creation up to Naruto. And while it had its flaws, the surge of chakra being one of the more irritable nuances, Naruto was still proud of what he'd come up with. How far he'd come.

Jiraiya was waiting patiently by the seal, legs crossed and arms folded, face turned into the sun.

"Yo." The blonde greeted.

The toad Sannin nodded, eyes still closed into the warm light. "You say goodbye?"

"Yeah." Naruto answered, stiffly. He stepped into the seal, onto the fond patterns he'd painstakingly created.

"You don't sound too happy."

"I'm not good with goodbyes." The blonde shrugged.

"No guilt?"

He scowled. How did Jiraiya always know—

"What for?" The Jounin retorted, angrily beginning the hand seals.

What did Jiraiya know, anyway? He wasn't the one standing on this paper, unknowingly poised between two roads he couldn't follow. Wasn't stuck with this forlorn longing that Naruto _knew _was wrong, yet was too strong for him to stop. And he knew, he _knew _if Jiraiya made him stop this now, told him this experiment was over and crushed this seal, that he'd do everything in his power to get back there.

"You're a lucky guy, Naruto." Jiraiya appraised wanly.

The seal erupted in a burst of brilliant blue, before it left nothing but a sky full of monstrous, rolling clouds and an old man on a hill.

The Sannin looked down at the paper crumbling in on itself, on the design made from blackened ink. On the design Naruto had made almost entirely by his own doing—such a work of genius for a boy so young.

"I hope you change the world."

.

.

X

.

.

It was only on the rarest of occasions that Kushina and Minato were able to meet publicly, however obscured it may seem. Even a deserted tea shop like this had Minato jumpy and on edge, glancing at the doors as if he expected the entirety of Iwagakure to come baring down on the shoji screen.

"Stop looking so mad." She leaned back, adjusting herself on her pillow. "It makes your face look sour."

"I don't look sour." Minato retorted, a steady pout forming on his face.

It only took one grin from Kushina until he was grinning back.

"You do." She crooned. "Like you've swallowed a soured plum! Kinda like a fish, see—?" To demonstrate, she pursed her lips and squished her cheeks with her hands.

Minato quickly put an end to it, kissing her solidly on the mouth until she giggled into it, laughing and pulling away.

Everything about Kushina was beautiful. The fiery red hair and the green-blue to her eyes. But most of all that soft smile reserved entirely for him.

He fingered the ring in his pocket. He'd been thinking about it all yesterday. How was he supposed to find the perfect time? Plan a date at a fancy restaurant? But it was too crowded—_everyone _would see, and Kushina hated places like that, anyway. In their house? But how plain! With his team, perhaps, but he wasn't even sure if he wanted _them _to know.

He'd been fretting about it all morning as well, happy for the distraction as she dragged him to her favorite teashop, desolate so early in the morning.

But why not now? She loved this place and their goddamn Chai tea more than anything else in the world (perhaps even him), just as she loved mornings as the sun began to rise. And how could he not, when she looked so lovely, dazzling him with her beguiling smile sun catching at her hair and sloping down her shoulder like an arch of gold.

He cleared his throat.

"So, Kushina… I—

And the both of them jolted up, as a surge of chakra seemed to plow right through him like a burst of killer intent.

Minato immediately sprung to his feet, head snapped to the direction of the overwhelming amount of chakra. Like a bomb had just been dropped, ripping through the air and alerting everyone to it's presence.

"What was that?" Kushina stood as well, peering out the window. Minato attempted to pull her back, away from the only opening, but she only waved him off.

"The birds are scared." She noted. "But I don't see any smoke."

Minato looked out as well. The sky was dotted with dark silhouettes, birds taking to the sky in long circular patterns. But there was no smoke, only the subtle blue of the sky and the line of trees.

Kushina turned to him, eyes wide and excited. "Let's investigate!"

"What?-!" He snorted, incredulously. "That's ridic—hey! Hold on!"

But Kushina was already half out the door, taking flight with the birds, wind singing in her hair. He stumbled after her, steadying his footing before leaping into the trees after her. They crossed through the sky, and he eyed the horizon. There was a curious lack of other nin—they _had _been pretty far from the village, but not terribly. The shockwave seemed to have literally ripped through him, but maybe it had been small enough not to alert the presence of the entire village.

Naruto had just dropped out of his own seal, falling to the ground unpleasantly and groaning at the headache he was now sporting. Typical of this stupid seal and its stupid imprecision… was it possible he'd used _too _much chakra this time? He wasn't sure.

Quickly, the blonde pocketed the anchor seal on the ground, rolling it into a scroll and shoving it onto one of the containers in his belt—just in time, too, as two nin came bolting out of the thick canopy of trees.

He wasn't nearly as surprised with Minato as he was with the blonde's red headed companion.

He'd expected some nin to come around; even though the departure was certainly more strenuous then the arrival, the amount of chakra used to do so would at least alert someone…

But Naruto's eyes caught with the woman descending from the trees, and his mind short-circuited.

The amount of familiarity in Kushina's face was startling. Not nearly as much as Minato, but equally there, subtler around the eyes and in the curve of her chin, the bow of her mouth.

The wind picked at her long, fiery hair, just as her eyes trained on to Naruto.

There was a brief moment in which she said nothing at all, too shocked at how much the boy resembled Minato to do much else aside from stare in silent appraisal. His skin was tanner, yes, lending him a more golden shade, and though his face only vaguely resembled the other man's (just the nose and the brows, perhaps, but everything else seemed just as familiar, though she couldn't place from _where_) it was the eyes that really caught at her.

Those were Minato's eyes.

On someone else.

"Naruto!" Minato called out, looking surprised and relieved at the same time.

Kushina blinked in confusion, as Minato hedged closer to the younger boy—Minato _never _voluntarily let someone invade his personal space, aside from her and perhaps Jiraiya. He was looking the boy over avidly, checking for wounds.

"Are you alright?"

The lemon-haired boy grinned sheepishly. "I'm fine." He insisted. "I just put too much into that last attack."

_Put too much…? _Kushina thought, bewildered. _That was a lot of chakra… _More then the average ninja would have…

"Put too much?-!" Minato voiced her thoughts aloud. "You could've blown up something with that—could've blown up yourself!"

"You think?" Naruto pondered curiously, looking entertained at the thought. Inwardly, he was mentally going through possible places far enough not to alert nearby nin of the seal's use. But how far? The middle of Kumo far?

The boy's eyes slid to his mother's, not unsurprised to find her looking at him as well.

"Oh!" Minato looked between the two. "I haven't introduced you two yet…"

The boy peered curiously at her, but with a certain impassivity she didn't think she was supposed to catch. She tried to shake off the strange, unexplainable feeling of familiarity at his face, at the way his face split open with a grin…

"I'm Kushina." She spoke first, voice strong, just like he'd imagined it to be.

"Hi." He shook himself out of his daze. "I'm Naruto."

His mother's voice—it was almost calling back to him. Like he was remembering it from a half-remembered dream, long washed in a sea of memories.

Minato eased the unsure tension out of the trio easily enough. "Cool. Hey, let's go meet my team already, huh? Obito's been looking for you, Naruto."

The other blonde perked up, happily confused. "Me?"

"Yeah, he's been dying to pick your brain for Jutsu." Minato nodded. "Thinks your some sort of Uzushiogakure warrior god or something."

"Uzushiogakure?" Kushina interrupted, immediately. "You're from Uzushiogakure?"

"_No_!" Naruto was quick to protest. "No! It's just, well my mom's from there, well she's _kind _of from there. But my dad isn't… uh, from any ninja clan, I don't think… so I usually just say I'm from Uzushiogakure."

"Huh." Kushina appraised. "You wouldn't happened to have known her clan name, would you?"

_Uzumaki._ Naruto's mind supplied bitterly. _Why yes, I would._

"No." He answered, aloud. "I didn't really know much about her."

The woman's stern eyes softened.

"Oh, I see…" Then she extended her hand. At first, Naruto thought she was trying to shake his hand, but then he caught sight of the tattoo on the back of her hand. The spiral. The sign of Uzushiogakure. "I'm from Uzushi. It's… been a long time since I've met anyone else from there."

"I've never been." He answered, honestly. "By the time I was born… I dunno… It just never came up in any of my travels."

"Travels?" Kushina echoed, suddenly perking up. "Do you travel?"

"I do." He answered, honestly. _Much farther then you'll ever know.._

Naruto wasn't sure how to handle the curious expression on her face. "And you—

"Oi! You guys!"

Naruto could have sighed in relief, as Kushina's eyes tore away from his own to make out Obito and Rin amidst a sea of shifting people. They'd somehow walked out into one of the main roads, full of Konoha at its highest peak of shopping. Rin and Obito trekked their way over, Rin coming to a full halt in front of Minato, the older blonde looking confused at her sly face until she opened her mouth.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama!"

Minato was quick to slap a hand over his wiggling Gennin's mouth. "Not so loud!" He hissed, looking around. No one seemed to have heard her.

Twenty years in the future and had Minato walked down the street, there wouldn't be a _single _person who wouldn't have stopped to stare. Perhaps it was just a posthumous reputation, however, for no one seemed particularly interested in the Jounin with a blonde mop of hair.

"Calm down." Kushina rolled her eyes. "You're not that famous…"

And with special relish to Minato's relieved expression, she added, "_Yet_."

"I can't wait for the coronation!" Rin squealed, before ribbing Obito. "We get front row seats, right, right?"

"Of course." Minato rubbed at his head, grinning. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Sarutobi-sama still has a few months in him left."

"Doubt it." Obito snorted. "Last I heard he was already planning a vacation to Kirigakure."

Minato's eyes widened. "No!-! Who did you hear that from?-!"

"Those Chuunin at the guard post—

"Let's eat!" Kushina clapped her hands, cutting in swiftly. "That's enough about Hokage stuff for today, huh?"

The comely woman easily maneuvered Minato plus Rin and Obito down the street, subtly switching the conversation over to lighter waters. Naruto frowned, plodding along next to Rin. How strange… Kushina had almost looked _uncomfortable _at the thought of Minato becoming Hokage. Did she not want the pressure that would come upon them? Or just didn't want Minato to be Hokage?

He found himself observing a deeper level to his parent's relationship then he had first thought.

The way Jiraiya spoke of them, they were a happy, light-hearted couple with few problems. Though his mother was known for her spitfire temper, he'd never actually _heard _any evidence of it. Generally, people spoke of her warmly, or respectfully—those who knew her, anyway. And the few who were aware of Minato and Kushina's relationship, and the fact that they had _him, _were quick to refer to them almost like a fairytale couple.

Though he saw very little of this now.

Kushina lead them towards her 'favorite tempura' restaurant, a few blocks away. Naruto couldn't help but notice how every time Minato seemed to get closer to her, she'd delicately move away.

He frowned.

"A wait?" Kushina pouted. The hostess only gave them a slightly empathetic glance.

"I'm sorry." She shrugged. But it is lunchtime. A party of five…? It'll be around twenty minutes. I'll be sure to call you over when your table is ready."

Kushina huffed, turning away from the stands and the busy tempura house, looking almost overcrowded with the amount of people.

Rin had somehow roped both Obito and Minato into crossing the street with her, to where an enormous bookstore sprawled over the majority of the corner, leaving Kushina and Naruto to wait for their table alone. He eyed the woman from the side, unsure of what to say. Everything he knew of his mother seemed to have been judiciously turned right side up, and now he was struggling to sift through all the debris, trying to pick at the only truths he had left.

"Do you like him?"

Sadly, he hadn't inherited Minato's tactful conversational cues. Hah. And some say he favored his mother in that regard.

"Excuse me?" The woman turned around in a flurry of burning red hair, looking mildly offended.

"Minato, I mean." He nudged his head to where the other blonde appeared. "It's just… you seem to be avoiding him."

"What are you, tactical intelligence?" Kushina snorted.

"It's in a shinobi's best interest to understand behaviors." Naruto answered, neutrally.

Kushina seemed to appraise him, as if judging his character through her gray, sky-like eyes. For a while, Naruto let her, keeping his face decidedly impassive, letting her peruse what she liked.

"Of course I like him." She answered with a sigh that seemed to deflate her entirely. "That's not the problem."

"Then what?" Naruto titled his head. "His reputation? That he'll be the Yondaime soon? That he's infamous and will someday be—

"All of the above!" Kushina cut in, exasperated. She threw her hands up. Naruto was caught in her vibrance. "But it's more than that!"

She looked away. "It's me… really… I'm just—I dunno. I'm me. And Minato is Minato. There's a lot of difference right there."

"That doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to." Naruto pointed out quietly.

"It doesn't matter what I think." Kushina sniffed, crossing her arms. She looked a lot like him at that moment, arms folded against her chest and face tilted away. So stubborn and mulish—the opposite of Minato, easy going and eager to please. "He just doesn't see it like I do. I don't think he _cares_, which is good, in a way… He doesn't worry about what other people think, what they _will _think when he becomes Hokage. I mean, he's going to be the _Yondaime._" She croaked out. "And I'm a Jin—

Naruto was surprised she would even confide in him with something of that magnitude, and she looked surprised herself. Luckily, perhaps for both of them, they were interrupted by a sweet, feminine voice.

"Kushina-chan!"

Kushina's face immediately lit up, focusing on someone behind Naruto. The blonde turned around—

Only to see Sasuke running towards him.

Oh wait.

Sasuke wasn't a petite woman.

Mikoto Uchiha came to a halt in front of her best friend, giving her an ecstatic hug that pulled the taller woman straight off her feet. Kushina squawked, wriggling in her best friend's arms until the smaller Kunoichi put her down.

Naruto was trying not to faint.

He may have met Mikoto, or Fugaku, and somewhere in the recesses of his mind were two Uchiha with vague, swimming pale faces and dark eyes. Mikoto came into view with disturbing clarity, her cute, small nose and big black eyes. Sasuke's cute, small nose and big black eyes.

Ew.

Sasuke looked so much like his mother that Naruto just decided that, to keep the two very, _very _far apart in his mind he just wouldn't look at her.

"What are you doing here?" Mikoto asked, with a bright, happy smile. "God, I haven't seen you in _months. _Where the hell have you been?-!"

"Around." Kushina answered with a sly smile. "And I'm waiting in this goddamn line for my tempura! This is crazy, y'know? I remember when this place was empty all the time—

"And we'd come to study for our Academy exams!" Mikoto finished with a giggle. "It's really been that long, huh?"

"It's ridiculous." Kushina agreed, before remembering Naruto. "Naruto!" She barked. "This is Mikoto. Praise the ground she walks on."

Naruto gave an embellished bow, making Mikoto stifle laughter.

"How do you do, Mikoto-sama?"

"Don't listen to her," Mikoto waved him off with a playful smile. "I'm no lady."

"Not yet, anyway." Kushina crowed. "Where is that fool Fugaku, anyway?"

"On a mission." Mikoto chirruped. "He's going to be gone until tonight, so I was thinking of picking up some tempura—

"You should join us!-!" Kushina interrupted with glee. "I'm having lunch here with Minato-san—

Minato_-san_?-!

"And his team!"

"The Hokage, huh?" Mikoto's voice turned sly, and Naruto was suddenly struck by the fact that _no, _this woman who seemed to clearly know Kushina well hadn't any idea that the two of them were dating. "Oh, Kushina-chan…"

"It's not like that!" Kushina was quick to hurry out. "I'm just good friends with little Rin-chan, you know…"

Naruto could only scowl. What a load of bull.

Man, no wonder no one ever connected him with the Fourth, despite the fact that they may as well have been identical twins. Clearly, _no one knew _the Fourth even had the ability, or the chance to procreate.

The meek hostess came out after that, ushering them in with a graceful little bow, which Kushina easily plowed right over. She then began to imperiously demand another seat for Mikoto, who only half-heartedly attempted to reassure the staff that no, Kushina wasn't going to sue them and bring the entire restaurant down, she just wanted another seat. It was a little hard to tell the difference, though.

By the time they'd fully settled, Kushina sandwiched between Naruto and Mikoto, Minato and his team had come back, Rin with more books then it looked like she could carry. Rin was first to delve straight into a conversation about literature, and no one but Naruto seemed to catch Minato's dismayed look at seeing Kushina without an empty chair. Naruto moved around uncomfortable, unsure of whether he should give Minato his seat or stay where he was.

But Kushina's hand clamped around his knee like a steel grip, and he stayed where he was.

Lunch, from another perspective other than his own, was a light-hearted affair full of chirrupy anecdotes and a few humorous jokes, like old friends catching up after a long time.

But all Naruto could do was toy with his chopsticks, wondering about how little he knew, how much was _really _left to gather dust in history.

.

.

.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure how he managed to walk Mikoto home, but the two were going in the same direction, and Naruto supposed he may as well be courteous enough to walk with her—even though he was still having issues at looking straight at her face.

"You really don't have to." Insisted Mikoto kindly, as everyone parted their separate ways. Minato and his team to visit Kakashi in the hospital and Kushina to—well, Naruto wasn't entirely sure. She'd left in a bit of a hurry.

"Nah, I'm going this way, anyway." And then, with a grin. "I'm sure that 'Fugaku-san' wouldn't want you walking home alone, anyway."

"That 'Fugaku-san' conveniently forgets I'm a kunoichi, and can take care of myself." Mikoto snorted, before brightening. "But it is very nice of you. Thank you, Naruto-san."

"It really isn't a problem, Mikoto-san."

Mikoto blinked at the formality, even though she'd used it herself. "It's just Mikoto." She smiled.

"Then it's just Naruto." He smiled back.

Oh god.

He wasn't flirting with Sasuke's _mom, _was he?

Of course not! He mentally slapped himself in the face. That's disturbing! To think this light-hearted woman birthed the two most notoriously stoic Uchiha in history—one of which who even destroyed his own clan.

"So, how do you know Kushina-chan?"

"I don't. I'm friends with Minato, though, and we just happened to meet up, and you know how Rin-chan is with—

"I wonder who came up with that." Mikoto snorted, interrupting him. "Those two are so transparent. They might be fooling everyone else, but they're definitely not fooling _me—_

"You know?" Naruto cut off, incredulously. "About, uh, Minato and Kushina?"

"Of course I know!" Mikoto huffed. "I knew since that day Minato rescued her from those Kumo-nin."

"I was under the impression it wasn't common news around here."

"Oh, it's most certainly not. Think of what would happen if people found out—if _Iwa _found out. Kushina's already in a delicate position, being from Uzushi and all, and that makes it even more difficult to be with Minato. Let alone the fact that she's a…" Mikoto trailed off, meeting Naruto's eyes before looking away.

"A Jinchuuriki." Naruto offered.

"So you knew that too." Mikoto whispered, looking a tad surprised.

He shrugged. "I've met a few. I'm pretty good with chakra identification, so it's easy to tell them apart."

The Uchiha took this in stride, nodding. "They'll have a lot of problems, I'm sure. …But I really just want them to be happy…"

"They will be." Naruto answered with brimming honesty. "Even now, I think they're happy. Confused, and a little unsure, but definitely happy."

"You think so?" Mikoto gave him a curious tilt of her head.

"I know so." He affirmed.

He found himself at the end of a deep, gray gaze, one he'd seen before. "Such conviction." She murmured. "Are you looking out for them?"

They came to a pause at the gates to the Uchiha compound, Naruto not even realizing they'd walked so far.

"I…" Naruto blinked, unsure. "I guess so." He ended, lamely. "I want to see them happy, too."

He must have passed some sort of test in her eyes, because the Uchiha gave a nod of affirmation before rummaging in her hair. She came up with a glimmering silver strand, a necklace at the end of it.

"Here, I want you to have this."

It was a double swirl patterned necklace, but colored black and red.

Naruto wondered what was up with him and getting jewelry from girl's.

"It's a sign of good luck!" Mikoto gave him a happy little smile. "Generally, they're shaped like Uchiha fans—it's a clan thing, but I feel like this suits you more."

"I can't take this from you." Naruto declined quickly. "I mean, if it's yours—

"It's okay!" She waved him off, pulling out another one from underneath her shirt. "I have another one! Kushina-chan has one too—we can be matching, ne?"

"Sure…" Naruto said, for lack of response.

"I'm sure you'll do a good job, looking after them." For a moment, Naruto thought of Sakura, and her unshakable conviction in him. He wondered what about him inspired people to believe in him, even when he didn't believe in himself. "We can take turns!"

Mikoto's eyes shifted up over his head, catching something in the sky. Naruto looked up too, to find a hawk circling slowly above them.

"That must be for you." Mikoto noted. "Well, I'll be going then. Good luck, Naruto-kun!"

She gave him a final wave, before heading into the Uchiha compound. Naruto wondered how she could be so sure it was his, she was a ninja too, after all. Though Kunoichi only took off from work when—

Naruto blanched.

So it seemed he'd inadvertently met Itachi, too.

.

.

.

* * *

_I love Itachi XD I just had to include that. _


	7. Discord Satellite

"You summoned me?" Naruto said, as he knocked on the door.

The Sandaim's office was chalky with toxic smoke, the man sitting in sharp relief of the sifting haze, seeming intent to stare into the equally hazy depths of his crystal ball. At Naruto's voice he looked up, pushing it to he side.

"I did." He nodded.

Naruto reread the scroll, looking incredulous. "You're giving me… a mission?"

The old man gave him a magnanimous smile. "Well, it would look a tad strange for a Jounin of Konoha to be lounging around, missionless, don't you agree?"

"I suppose so…" Naruto answered slowly. "But am I really the right ninja for the job?"

"You're the only ninja for the job." The Sandaime affirmed, a twinkle in his eye. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning, 0700, and I expect you'll be meeting your travelling companions at the eastern gates—

"Companions?" Naruto echoed, looking down at his mission scroll. "But this says it's a solo mission…"

"To Amegakure, yes." Sarutobi nodded, before smiling dryly. "You'll find that you aren't the only one travelling in that direction."

Not entirely understanding, Naruto only nodded slowly, bowing, before letting himself out.

This would be his very first time receiving a solo mission from the Sandaime Hokage. To think, the last time he'd stood in that office for a mission briefing he'd come in a little Gennin on another Team Seven, with one lazy sensei, one brooding boy and a happy little girl. Now he was exiting a young Jounin, clutching an A-Rank mission in his hand.

.

.

.

After mulling over the Sandaime's words throughout the night and well into gloaming, Naruto wasn't entirely surprised to see Team Seven waiting around the edge of Konoha.

"Naruto-kun!" Rin perked up as he took the stairs down to the gate two at a time.

He grinned. "I had a feeling I'd be travelling with you guys."

"You're on a mission?" Obito's eyes grew wide. "So cool!-! Where to?"

"Amegakure."

"You're travelling with us?-!" Obito yelped out, enthusiasm growing ten fold. "No way! This is going to be the best mission ever! Sensei, does that mean we get to do Naruto's mission, too?"

"Absolutely not." The Yondaime cut in. "Naruto will only be travelling with us there. I'm sure whatever he's up to is a _little _more than our C-Rank retrieval mission."

Obito pouted. "No fair… what rank is your mission, Naruto?"

"A." The blonde smiled. "But it really isn't as much fun as you think it is."

"Sounds like Jounin work." Minato appraised.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm just glad to be back in the swing of things."

To be quite honest, Minato was just pleased to see the blonde in relatively good health. Seeing him on that hospital bed hadn't been easy for the older blonde. Seeing Naruto doing anything but smiling happily seemed _wrong. _

"Minato-sama." The Chuunin at the guard post bowed lowly, and Minato bit back a groan.

"Tetsuo-san," He greeted, amiably enough. Naruto was impressed he even knew their names. "Sousuke-san. Everything's good up here?"

"It's as to be expected." Said Tetsuo with a pleased grin. "A bit busy for today, but everything's going smoothly."

"I'm glad to hear it." Minato nodded, smiling.

No wonder the textbooks had referred to him as the, "people's Hokage".

The sunny blonde turned towards his team. "You guys ready to go?"

"Yes!" Rin and Obito chorused. Kakashi just looked vaguely annoyed with his Sensei's cheer.

.

.

.

Naruto had never been to Amegakure, but as he had suspected, the majority of the landscape was plotted with thick, obscuring trees, a damp cloying humidity hanging heavily in the air. The country of Rain, and by default, _rainforests, _had to be the most buggy, unnaturally warm climate he'd ever been in.

And for a well travelled Jounin, that was surely saying something.

"You know, Amegakure is a natural phenomenon—completely untouched by time! Some of their rivers have been around for centuries! Who knows what kinds of exotic biological species reside in their depths? I'm surprised no one's every tried to look before—!"

Obito gave Kakashi a flat look, which for once, the younger Shinobi met with equal regard. "What's wrong with this girl?" He snorted.

"I'm sure that's not exactly true, Rin-chan." Said Naruto neutrally. "Last I hear this place was completely ravaged by—

He, luckily, cut himself off before he betrayed any secrets about Hanzo the Salamander from his history lessons, in a time when they weren't exactly just history lessons.

"By what?" Rin piqued, curiously.

"Uh… dinosaurs?" Naruto ended lamely.

Obito chortled as Kakashi gave him a disbelieving look.

"Before Naruto makes a fool of himself further," Minato cut in swiftly, with an easy charm to his face. "Why don't we start some training, huh?"

"But Sensei!" Rin whined. "We're in the middle of a mission! We can't just train now!"

Minato frowned, tilting his head. "Why not?"

"What Rin means is that we're walking!" Obito explained further. "We can't just _stop_! It'd take even longer to get to Amegakure then!"

Minato wagged his finger. "Well this is a different kind of training."

Obito and Rin only skewered him with stark, disbelieving looks.

"These are high speed exercises!" Minato said with a laugh. His entire team gave a collective, unison groan, which only seemed to amuse both him and Naruto further. "Generally, ninja travel in the trees at higher speeds—this helps to lower detection and make for faster travelling times—

"We know, Sensei!" Rin complained, before adding, "We've done it _before_."

Naruto supposed this was probably true. This _was _Team Minato, which had been fighting in the Iwa war. Though they were just kids, they had more experience than their childish antics belied.

"Well if you're so _sure _then," Minato rolled his eyes with a sly smirk, crouching deeply. "Why don't you catch up to me then?-!"

And with that, he darted into the trees with impressive speed, so quick that even Naruto's trained eye only caught a glimpse of his green Jounin flak before it was gone completely.

"No fair!" Rin cried in dismay. "You already got a head start!"

But Team Seven leapt into the trees as well, leaving Naruto to stare bemusedly at the long, empty forest path. Minato was the fastest shinobi to have ever lived—he was probably miles away from Naruto by now. Not that the blonde was bothered, no, there was a much simpler solution to catching up to the older blonde.

Naruto pulled out the three-pronged kunai, looping it around his finger once, twice, before throwing it into the forest at break-neck speed.

He gave it a second, before he brought up the hand seal, disappearing as well.

Minato heard the whir of the kunai rather than saw it, just a sharp noise to his left slicing through the air, and then a blonde Jounin was leaping right beside him, so quick it was near unbelievable.

The blonde grinned at him triumphantly, if not a little cockily.

"You're pretty fast." Minato noted, an impressed smile to his face.

"I could say the same to you." Naruto surmised, equally enjoying himself.

Minato didn't want to give the boy an ego rush, but he certainly was impressed. It wasn't very often that anyone could match him in speed. In fact, it wasn't often that he met anyone near his level, _at all. _Though he'd never actually fought Naruto, the older blonde was almost curious to do so. Naruto seemed to know a lot about everything, no easy feat considering the vast repertoire—how would they match up side by side?

"You must've done a lot of speed training." Minato concluded, taking in the speed and ease Naruto had at this high velocity. "I had a good head start on you."

Naruto gave him a sly smirk. "I cheated." He said, conspiratorially.

Minato blinked.

But how?

"There's a move I created," The Yondaime began slowly, as if appraising if Naruto was ready to hear this. "Called the Hirashin. I think it'd be a good move for you to learn."

Naruto only smiled.

_I already know it._

"I bet it is." He agreed, airily. "You'll have to teach it to me sometime."

"You'll have to teach _me _sometime." Minato shot back.

Naruto blinked. "You're the Hokage!" He pointed out. "Don't you know everything?"

"Not at all." Minato scoffed. His piercing, ice blue eyes were on Naruto once more, as if seeing right through him and picking him apart. Naruto swallowed. He sincerely hoped not. "I'm sure you know a lot more than you let on."

That enormous fire technique, the like of which he'd never seen before. And that Rasengan-type move—how did he come up with it? It had taken Minato nearly three years to make that move. He doubted anyone could do the same to such perfection.

And a comment he'd made earlier—

"_Are you a Fuuinjutsu master? I hear they're all super cool sealing masters!"_

"_Well yes, but—_

"I know a lot less then you think." Naruto answered honestly. He didn't really know much, himself, anyway. The majority of the insight he had came from the fact that he came from the future, where all the answers were laid bare with time.

"I'm sure you could teach me something." Minato wheedled, actually becoming interested in learning something from the other blonde. "How about Fuuinjutsu?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

And then narrowed.

"But aren't you _good _at that?"

"Well yes." Minato supposed, taking a giant leap and almost overtaking the blonde Jounin. Naruto sped up with him, wondering how on earth Team Minato was going to catch up to them. "But I've never seen a seal like yours before…"

_Like mine?_

He must be referring to the Shiki Fuuin, Naruto thought.

_And let's hope you never do…_

He shook his head of his thoughts. "It's not really _mine._" Naruto explained. "Someone, ah, well, painted on to me, I guess. I didn't even make it—though it is quite a work of art."

"If you don't mind me asking," Minato began slowly, though Naruto had a feeling he would. "What does it do, exactly?"

Naruto answered with the truth. "It seals away a separate part of my chakra."

Now Minato was just confused. "A separate part? But why?" Why would anyone want to do that? Some people would _kill _for the amount of reserves Naruto had, or at least, suck him dry of them using some bizarre Jutsu. To separate it was just… crazy.

Naruto shrugged. "It's a very difficult chakra to use." He picked his words carefully. "It's not really mine, you see… and it does crazy things to me."

"Not really yours?" Now Naruto was just really, really not making sense. "But how can that be—

But Minato's attention was diverted, as Naruto looked ahead sharply, darting out of the way just as the two approached an enormous fallen tree in their path. Naruto split left and Minato split right, the two landing heavily on opposite trees with an audible 'thunk'.

Minato had a few seconds to catch his breath, before he was diving back into the path of tree limbs, grabbing Rin and Kakashi before they too could barrel head first into the tree. Luckily, Naruto managed to haul Obito out of the way as well, the five of them breathing heavily from such physical strain.

"Well that was a close one." Minato said with a laugh. "That would've sucked to run into to."

Rin gazed at the enormous tree, covered in moss and growing fungi. "No kidding." She breathed, before her attention snapped away. "_Oh_! Look at that mushroom—!"

Kakashi and Obito sighed.

Minato only rolled his eyes. "I think that's enough training for today."

Obito immediately bounded up to Naruto, gushing about how fast he was and how he might even be faster than Minato—Naruto took this all with a surprisingly modest head, insisting that Obito was only overreacting.

But Minato found his eyes drawn to the other blonde, anyway.

What could Naruto have been referring to…?

.

.

.

The village hidden in the rain was as Naruto assumed, exotically rainy. And not in the good way.

Team Minato plus Naruto were heavily laden with their thick rain cloaks by the time the third day rolled around and they reached the main village. Mostly, it looked war-ravaged and a little reluctant to be allowing Konoha-nin inside. But Minato gave them his most disarming smile, and that seemed to keep the disgruntled guards at bay.

"Will we be meeting you soon, Naruto-kun?" Rin asked concernedly, as they were about to split to different hotels.

Naruto gave her an easy, worriless smile. "Of course! If not, I'll see you back at Konoha!"

Rin didn't look completely content with the answer, but Kakashi managed to drag her away before he could protest. Naruto hadn't meant to, but he accidentally met the fierce blue of Minato's eyes, the man conveying some sort of silent message that the blonde didn't understand, before turning away with his team.

Sometimes, in the depths of those icy eyes, he could see the terrifying Yondaime that dominated the Third Shinobi War, the impassive features depicted in his history book.

Other times, he saw Minato-sensei, the easy-going, if not a tad perceptive leader of Team Minato/Team Seven, who looked up to him with more adoration than necessary.

And on the briefest of occasions, he saw a bit of himself. A bit of his father.

The blonde made his way to his hotel, which was, in fact, very close to Team Minato's. Though Team Seven was under the impression Naruto was out aiding the village against some sort of local criminal organization, completely unaware that Naruto was meant to watch over _them. _Sarutobi had gotten word at Iwagakure's recent attempt to get rid of the Yondaime—through his team. Minato was probably aware his life was in danger, it would have been detrimental on the Sandaime's part not to have him aware, though Naruto didn't think the other man was aware that Naruto would be assisting in this as well. Though it was quite likely he had a hunch. Minato was oddly insightful like that.

How unlucky that Naruto received nothing of that sharp astuteness.

Naruto took in the vast, barren landscape, seeming devoid of life and nothing but a bowled fixture of mud and dirt. Scars struggled through buildings and split the ground open in long strokes—and no one, out of the few people which hastily walked through the streets, seemed particularly surprised by them. The blonde looked up into the dim gloom, past the heavy mist that covered the ground in a thick, furtive carpet, and into the crooked skyline of buildings and crisscrossing telephone wires.

This was Amegakure.

This was Akatsuki.

The blonde focused back onto the streets, navigating his way through the metallic landscape. Right now, Amegakure was coming to the end of a tumultuous civil war, resulting in Hanzo's overthrow and the rising of Akatsuki's reign. Right now, Team Minato was heading in the opposite direction, three of which were Konoha Chuunin and one, the Hokage to-be.

Naruto snorted.

And who's great idea was it to bring them in here? As if Amegakure didn't hate them enough. This was practically baiting the country to do something in retaliation—

The blonde's eyes widened.

Perhaps that was what the Sandaime had wanted—what Minato was trying to tell him without words. Though Akatsuki was attempting a full scale wipe out of all Hanzo's loyal followers, many of them still lingered bitterly in the sprawling city's shadows, waiting patiently for Akatsuki to ease into complacency. For Konoha to fall into a self-assured security, lulled with satisfaction.

The cunning old man must be using Minato as the bait, the sign that Konoha had well and truly decided its supreme rule, and now sat lavishly in amenity, resting on its victory. After all, why else would they send their newly-appointed Yondaime and his team of Chuunin into enemy lands?

Naruto reached into his pocket for the mission scroll, perusing it once more.

Watanabe Akio.

No wonder it had sounded so familiar. He'd been one of the biggest benefactors for Hanzo the Salamander during the Second World War, supplying money and weapons to a country who had had enough of fighting. It wasn't surprising that, at the turning point of the war, he'd disappeared flat off the map, leaving Amegakure to fend off the enemies it'd made on its own.

But if not even a dangerous band of S-Class criminals could root him out of this capacious mass of alloy, how would a solo Jounin from a foreign country?

Naruto debated this as he checked into his lodgings, careful to take his hitai-ate off long before he'd even entered the city. That was where Minato came in, surely. It wouldn't take long for news to spread that the legendary Yellow Flash was inside the city, working such a menial job as retrieving a scroll from a diplomat.

Was the other blonde aware of it, though? He'd given no indication, aside from that salient glance as they'd parted ways.

After settling into his room and spreading out his various maps and mission details, Naruto slumped onto the bed, lost in thought.

He near jumped right off it as Minato appeared next to him.

"Holy—

The Yondaime grinned, delving into Naruto's bag and looping out a three-pronged kunai from one of the pockets. "Didn't even notice I'd put it in there." He said, though the arrogance was almost endearing.

Naruto gave him a narrow-eyed glare. "Didn't think I had to watch my back with my own comrades."

"It was for your own good." Minato shrugged cheerfully, dropping himself onto the desk chair. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now."

"Shouldn't you be with your team?" Naruto asked quickly. "They'll be a liability without you—

"They can handle themselves." Minato waved him off, before adding, "I've also trapped the entire hotel and room, and sealed the door from foreign intruders."

Naruto laughed. "Overkill?"

"You never know." Said the other blonde, seriously. "At any rate, luring Watanabe out of his comfort zone will be difficult, even with me here. The Sandaime and I were unsure if he'd even come out at all, though I have a feeling he won't pass up the opportunity."

"To what?" Naruto wondered. "Stir up another war?"

"Get back at Konoha?" Minato shot back, looking like he didn't quite understand it himself. "Who knows. With guys like that, they'd do anything for revenge."

Naruto found himself thinking of the mysterious Akatsuki Leader. He was leading this city now—and for what? Who was he? A man just like Watanabe, selfishly manipulating the city for his own goals? For revenge as well?

"So do we have a plan?"

"Not much of one." Minato sighed. "My team and I will do what we came here for, and you'll be here for backup, if we need it."

The Yondaime stood then, turning to the window. Rain splattered in long waves of water, wind rattling at the glass. To think, everyday was like this in Amegakure, an endless torrent of rain. Naruto caught sight of the man's reflection in the glass, suddenly struck by how identical it looked to the Yondaime's portrait in Hokage tower. The sternness to his brow, a seriousness that Naruto rarely saw.

"To think, how different this country is now…" The Hokage to-be shook his head. "How could it have changed so easily?"

The time traveler thought to the coupe that could have done the same to Konoha, to the elusive leader of Akatsuki who had managed to do it to Amegakure.

"I'm not sure." The blonde answered honestly. "Maybe its inevitable."

Minato shook his head. "Not while I'm Hokage." He whispered, though Naruto was under the impression it was more to himself.

If only he'd stayed Hokage longer, then.

The blonde leapt as if burned, reaching into his side pocket where he pulled out a seal. Naruto immediately recognized the design as an alert.

The Yondaime met his eyes, a look of frightened terror, before he pulled Naruto's arm, and the two of them were leaping through space.

They hit the floor of Team Minato's hotel room, now looking like a spree of attack dogs had ravaged the room. The Hirashin always reminded him of time travel, a sheer vertigo of disequilibrium that made him feel dizzy. Minato's had been a fluent motion, like diving into water.

The Yondaime burst into action, throwing open the bathroom door, to see the inside wrecked as well. Naruto checked the outside hallway, which seemed as battered as the door did, though this time, he found Obito, at least. The Uchiha was slumped against the wall, another nin laying crumpled at his feet. Though victorious, the black-haired boy looked worse for wear.

"Obito." Naruto murmured, propping the boy against him. "Are you alright?"

"Nnn…" The Chuunin shook his head, looking out of sorts. "I'm fine. But Kakashi… Rin-chan."

"What about Kakashi? And Rin-chan?" Naruto asked slowly, meeting Minato's eyes as the furious Yondaime came into the hallway. He looked back down at Obito. "Where are they?"

"Kakashi—_ugh…_" Obito clutched at his head, pushing off of Naruto. "Kakashi was down that way… I dunno. He went out to get a soda, and then I heard him shouting—I came out here but this guy came out of nowhere and then I…"

"It's okay." Naruto assuaged calmly. "It's gonna be okay."

Naruto moved down the hallway quickly, leaving Minato to take care of his injured student. Kakashi seemed significantly less harmed than Obito, though at first glance it looked as if he had bled out all over the floor. He looked small and petulant amidst a sea of grape soda cans, from where the machine had been decked open by a long blade. Upon closer inspection the blood was actually cherry cola, from the cut open cans where Kakashi's katana had wrecked through dozens of them.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, Kakashi?"

The boy grumbled in response. "I'm stuck." His feet seemed to be completely encased in cement, which seemed to rise up out of the floor and gobble him up until his neck and head were the only thing visible.

Naruto would have laughed at the irony, remembering a time when the Copy-nin had used a similar trick on Sasuke many years ago.

"Don't worry about that." The blonde easily dispelled the Jutsu, Kakashi springing free and landing catlike on his feet. "Where's Rin?"

The Hatake looked up sharply. "She was in the room." He answered, wide-eyed. "Was she—?"

Naruto immediately turned tail, sprinting back into the room, Kakashi hot on his heels. The door was still wide open, Minato standing forlornly in the middle of it, surrounded by seals. Naruto was immediately impressed by their caliber, scrawled all over the floor, the windows, and even the door. But the Yondaime wasn't focused on any of those. He was looking up at the ceiling, a space devoid of black ink.

"The vent." Minato cursed quietly. "The fucking vent."

"You wouldn't have known." Naruto placated, stepping inside. He ushered Kakashi into the bathroom to get cleaned up. Obito was lying face down on the bed. "At any rate, no normal person would be able to fit into something so small."

"No normal person," Minato agreed. "Just a ninja."

"Well…"

"It's not your fault, Sensei!" Obito cried weakly, voice muffled by the pillow. "It should have been _me _protecting her—but I ran to Kakashi instead…"

"Both of them needed your help." The Yondaime assured the upset Uchiha. "And it's going to be alright. Each of you have one of my special kunai for this purpose."

"So we'll be able to rescue her?" Obito looked up, relieved. "Thank god! Poor Rin-chan… she must be so worried."

_Or knocked out_. Naruto thought, but decided it would be better to keep that to himself.

"Get Kakashi." Minato ordered. "And we'll decide what to do from there."

As Obito scurried into the bathroom, the Yondaime turned to Naruto.

"Watanabe?" Naruto guessed.

"Looks like he didn't go after me after all." Minato smiled bitterly.

"But we've got our shot." Naruto pointed out, feeling a little sympathetic that it was at Rin's safety that they did. "And you can pinpoint her location?"

Minato nodded. "As long as the kunai is still there."

The bathroom door swung open, hitting the wall with a swooping bang. "We want to go too, Sensei!" Obito shouted, though it looked as if his ears were ringing from his voice. "We've got to save Rin-chan!"

"You guys have done good." Minato said, shaking his head. "Leave the rest up to Naruto and I, alright?"

Obito pouted, but Naruto felt odd satisfaction at the words. Naruto and I. Like they were partners. Or… equals.

"But I want to help too!" The Uchiha whined. Kakashi scowled, the little imp looking like he at least understood that they'd only be a hindrance.

"Come on, idiot." The younger Chuunin scowled. "Leave it up to Sensei. We'll only get in the way."

"But!" Obito sputtered. "But! But Rin-chan!"

"Will be fine." Kakashi cut off, looking irritated. "Minato-sensei can handle it."

Obito looked up imploringly at Naruto and Minato, though the latter only sighed. "Just rest, Obito."

"Fine…" The Uchiha muttered glumly.

Minato turned to Naruto, taking Obito's sullen understanding as approval. "Shall we?"

Naruto nodded.

.

.

.

"Looks like they were smart after all…" Minato sighed, looking annoyed. He picked up his kunai from where it was laying on the ground, along with Rin's hitai-ate and the majority of her weapons.

"There's no sign of struggle…" Naruto noted, walking around the seen with a keen eye. "She's most likely unconscious."

"That might be better." Minato muttered grimly. "They won't start interrogation until she wakes up." At the thought of anything torture related with Rin, the man's face twisted into a controlled impassiveness, though Naruto was aware that that was even worse than anger.

"They'll keep her as a hostage, most likely." Naruto pointed out. He looked down the street, the rain having melted into a light drizzle, but the mist still thick and laden against the ground. He caught sight of one of the street posts.

_Hako…_

"There's a base around here." The blonde spoke up, eyes widening. He remembered the name vaguely from his maps he'd received in his mission scroll. They were composed from spy groups meticulously monitoring Amegakure. Though there was little evidence, Watanabe and the few Hanzo loyalists still left were said to have a base around the area.

Minato looked up sharply, Rin's hitai-ate still in his hand. "Do you know where?" The blonde asked furtively.

Naruto shook his head. "No." He said, apologetically. If only he hadn't left his maps in his room… "But it cant' be too far."

"We'll split up then." Minato answered immediately. The blonde tossed another three-pronged kunai his way. "If you discover anything, just scratch the seal. It'll alert me."

Naruto nodded as Minato disappeared with nothing but a quick, blurred movement, leaving the Jounin to take the other side of the street.

Though it seemed a futile gesture, as Naruto could see little else aside from the watery street, diffused in the speckled lighting of lined street lamps. Amegakure was unpleasantly silent without the constant shifting background of rain, almost eerily quiet as the blonde made his way down the street.

Surely they'd have guards up, or perhaps just people wandering the streets as slum rats. But the entire block was devoid of life, making the ninja stand on edge.

It was unnatural.

Impossible, even.

Naruto blinked then.

"Kai!"

How could he always be this dense with Genjutsu?

The street blurred, before breaking into a road of messy, broken bodies. Naruto immediately leapt for cover, ducking behind a building. He peered into the street, which now carried with it the faint sounds of people farther away, and the electric hum beneath his feet foreshadowing a powerful generator somewhere near here.

The blonde gulped, eying the strewn corpses. His identity wouldn't be safe here, certainly. But, for the life of him, he couldn't make a Henge.

Then he smiled.

But of course, there was another option.

After a few quick hand seals, he turned into a _she._

He had no time for satisfaction, however, as a blade was poised at his neck. "A young girl like yourself shouldn't be wandering alone."

Naruto smirked. Sexy no Jutsu could really come in handy sometimes.

"Who said I was a little girl?"

He ducked under the blade, giving a sweeping kick to the man behind him. The other ninja sprawled, but quickly poofed into a rock. The blonde parried a few more strikes, unpleasantly surprised at how unmatched he was. This man was _strong. _Perhaps even stronger than Minato.

Naruto dodged a punch to the face, only to be quickly overwhelmed by a kick to the stomach, effectively pinning him to the wall.

He grimaced.

"Who are you?"

Naruto looked up to see a cloaked figure, a few ways taller than him in the Sexy no Jutsu—and probably when he was normal, too—with a multitude of piercings up the bridge of his nose. He had unusually red hair, as well as very tanned skin. But it was the eyes that bothered Narut the most. He'd never seen the pale gray coloring, nor the thousands of rings that seemed to focus in on his pupils.

"Nin—" Naruto grunted. "Ja…"

"From?" The man asked, looking amused.

Naruto swallowed. "Amegakure…"

There was a moment in which the man only watched him curiously, and the blonde thought he was in the clear. That was, until a kunai was embedded next to his head.

"Try again."

"Konoha!" Naruto grunted.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Konohagakure? Why?"

"A mission…" The blonde heaved slowly, carefully looking for a way out. He was unmatched, clearly, and Naruto would prefer not to have to use the Kyuubi, as that would give away, well, _everything. _

"For what?" Asked the taller man, testily.

"Assasination—…" Naruto gave a shuddering breath as the pressure to his stomach was lifted. "Of Watanabe Akio."

It seems _that _had been the right answer, as the man backed off, leaving Naruto to slump onto the wall.

"Huh." Muttered the man, looking a strange mixture of irritated and amused. "So Konoha has gotten itself involved… but for what gain?"

Naruto took the opportunity, as the man was lost in thought, to slowly draw his hand into his pocket, reaching for Minato's kunai. If he could just give it a scratch—even the tiniest one—surely the two of them could take this man out together. It shouldn't be too hard, after all, with their speed and the element of surprise—

But the man's eyes flashed, and one hand was on Naruto's feminine wrist, near crushing it, and the other was grabbing the kunai for himself.

Naruto blanched.

"The Yondaime's seal." Said the man, monotonously. Naruto paled, as he threw it into the far wall. It embedded with a thunk. "He will not be helping you here. We have no need for that man."

"And me?" Naruto asked bitterly, holding his ground.

The man with piercings eyed him casually. "You may prove your usefulness." He decided upon. And then, "Konan!"

A woman appeared in a flurry of paper flowers. Her eyes were dark, but her hair was a bright, sky-like blue.

"The main entrance is clear." The woman began, her voice a careful blankness as well. "He hasn't foreseen our involvement."

"Good." The man nodded, before turning to Naruto once more. "You will aid us in our quest, Konoha Kunoichi, in order to atone for your country's sins."

Sins? Naruto thought, puzzled, but certainly wasn't about to question.

"Fine." Naruto bit out, pulling himself from the wall and attempting to tie up his long hair. It was nice when going for the whole 'sexy' thing, but an annoyance when he was actually trying to get work done. "No introductions or anything…" The blonde muttered.

But the man caught it. "You may call me Pein for now." He said enigmatically. "This is Konan."

The woman inclined her head.

Naruto scowled. "But I don't understand… why are the two of you helping me?"

The woman, Konan, snorted. "We have our own motivations." Answered Pein, with an air of mystery.

So it seemed that there was more going on in Amegakure than Naruto had first thought.

"You must be with the girl, then?" Pein glanced at Naruto. Naruto blinked. "The one they dragged in earlier."

His eyes widened. "You mean Rin-chan—!"

Konan cut her off with a hiss, waving her hand and looking down the street. Naruto closed his mouth, sheepishly. "Was it a girl with brown hair?" He asked, quieter.

Konan nodded. "She was unconscious."

As he had thought.

"It seems Watanabe is intending to lure the Yondaime." Pein murmured. "But to what end?"

"Revenge?" Naruto hazarded, quoting from before. His eyes glanced longingly to the kunai on the far side of the street. If only Minato would hurry up and realize he'd went in the wrong direction…

"A possibility." Konan agreed.

Pein shook his head. "But too obvious. Perhaps he'd use the man as a bargaining chip—in order to force Konoha's hand into aiding the Hanzo loyalist cause."

"Danzou would never fall for that." Konan pointed out, losing Naruto completely. Danzou—?

"Regardless," Pein waved her off. "The ploy has given us the perfect opportunity to rid Amegakure of those opposing its peace. We should make haste of it while we can."

Konan nodded. "I'll take the roof." She declared, before disappearing once more into a flurry of origami cranes.

Pein glanced at Naruto, still some ways shorter then him, now looking at least like a semi-effective ninja with his hair tied up. "You will accompany me to find Watanabe." He intoned deeply. "It would be in both of our best interests to work together, at least for this juncture."

"Alright." Naruto agreed, if not a tad cautiously. Who knew who the hell these people were. Underground Amegakure revolutionists? Amegkure-nin? Though they wore no hitai-ate…

The two entered the main premises quietly, and, true to Konan's word, the main guard and entire first floor had already been killed for them. Pein maneuvered himself around them easily, moving to the stairs, Naruto hot on his heels. His eyes were eerily bright in the dim fluorescent lighting, and Naruto couldn't help but be drawn to them. The salient, puissant glowing of them.

The second floor opened to an array of surprised ninja, who were almost immediately blindsided when gravity seemed to pull them closer to the man—close enough for him to skewer them easily with his weapons.

Though Naruto couldn't blame them, he was surprised to.

He'd never seen anything like that, nothing so _powerful._

The blonde followed a little reluctantly, more worried now than before. Whoever this man was, he wasn't anyone to be trifled with. The strange Dojutsu… the odd technique—Naruto swallowed, and decided that some things should stay in the past. This would be one of them.

He warily kept his distance from the other man, contemplating how he was supposed to send a message to Minato. He'd found the hideout, that was for sure… though in present company, he doubted he'd be able to do little else aside from follow and wait for a moment in the man's spectacular defense. It seemed that he kept one eye on their enemies, and one eye on Naruto.

By the fifth floor, Naruto was feeling a little useless—though he was privately pleased by this fact, as using any unique attacks may give him away—and coming up empty handed on how to get in touch with Minato. Every time his hands so much as twitched Pein's eyes moved to him, those strange rings glancing at him quickly, before he easily disarmed their opponents.

"How many more floors?" Naruto asked by the seventh, getting a little exhausted. Being tense for this long really wasn't good for his muscles. It felt like every second he was waiting for Pein to turn to him and spring into action, preparing himself for it, for what he'd show the other man—if it came to that, he'd have to kill him. For if Pein ever lived to tell the tale…

The man gave him a sidelong glance. "A few more." Was his answer. "Watanabe's office on the top floor."

_Great, _the blonde thought, rankled. _Like that won't take long._

It would be so much easier if his accomplice at least used Kage Bunshin to clear the many rows of protecting guards. Or at least a summon or something. Lord knows there was a faster way to do this—

That's it!

Summon!

Naruto's eyes widened, only to drop back down. But how would he manage that, with Pein watching his every move…

Though Pein hadn't been the only one watching.

That move, whatever it was, that distorted gravity—it could only work for a few seconds. And afterwards, Pein was left vulnerable. Or at least as vulnerable as a man like that could be. At least, he seemed weaker; like he was recharging his attack.

Naruto drew in a bated breath, waiting for Pein's latest attack to wane off. Once it did, and the entire hallway was clear of guards, he sprung, ready for his attack.

But someone beat him to it.

"Naruto!"

Rin came stumbling out from the opposite end of the hallway, rounding the corner with a limp and looking utterly exhausted. She'd already spotted him, and was looking relieved. Naruto was just plain surprised.

"R—Rin?" How could she tell it was him? He was a girl, after all.

The blonde rushed to the young Chuunin, completely oblivious to Pein's narrowed, surprised glance at the mention of his name.

"Naruto…" The girl mumbled, almost dropping to the floor. Naruto slid to catch her in time, eying the hallway she'd just come from. His eyes widened when he realized she must have woken up and fought her way out, attempting to get out of the complex.

In a flurry of paper, Konan was beside Pein on the opposite end.

Naruto took his distraction to bite down on his thumb, blood oozing out of the wound as he rapidly made the hand seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu.

"He's on the ninth floor," She explained, her voice calm even though she spoke quickly. "Heading downwards—there seems to be some sort of escape into another complex of buildings on the eight level."

"We'll intercept him, then."

The two were distracted by another round of enemy-nin coming down from the stairs.

Taking the opportune moment for the fortuitous fortune it was, Naruto flew through the summoning handseals, quickly tearing at his skin and pressing them as quietly as possible into the ground.

A rather small, rounded toad the size of his palm poofed into existence, looking surprised and confused.

"Who the hell are you—

"Ssh!" Naruto hissed, leaning over to shove the toad, Rin, and himself bodily over the corner. "Keep your voice down!"

"Who are you?" The toad repeated again, looking weary.

"That doesn't matter." Naruto said, hastily. "Listen, I need you to give a message to Minato."

"To who?" The toad blinked.

Naruto wanted to hit something.

"Ask one of the other summons!" He spat quickly. "Look, tell Minato that I've found Rin. We're in the building across from his kunai. Tell him, that okay?"

"Okay…" The toad whispered back, looking unsure. "But I'm not really a summon, you know… I'm still in training on Mount—

"I know who you are, Gamakichi." Naruto smiled, nostalgic at seeing his friend so young and small.. "But you have to forget _me, _okay? Pretend like you never met me."

At this, the young Gamakichi was even more confused. "What? But—

Naruto released all the chakra holding him, though, sending him back to the summoning realm in a clout of smoke, just as Konan and Pein finished up the last of Watanabe's guards.

He stood then, dragging himself around the corner, Rin on his slim, feminine shoulders.

"Is she dead?" Konan asked, no inflection to her voice.

Naruto shook her head. "Chakra exhaustion, I think…"

"She'll be alright, then." The comely woman looked satisfied, turning to her partner.

Pein nodded, and the three of them ascended the stairs to the eighth floor, Naruto making sure to stay a few paces behind the two, always behind.

It wasn't hard to find Watanabe. He was a rotund, obtuse man of short stature, and his waddle made the floor shake with grounded effort. Pein's long, languid strides easily dwarfed the man's smaller ones, cornering him into a hallway as Konan's paper molded to seal the opening shut.

"What do you want from me?-!" He cried, after fruitlessly pounding the papered wall. He turned around to them, and Naruto was sorely reminded of Gatou, the way his forehead gathered sweat profusely and how his soft stomach collapsed as Pein pushed a kunai into it.

"I want nothing—" Those eyes collected light from the moon in the windows, a strange, warped sort of purple. "But to see you suffer."

Like a stuck pig, the man squealed, yelling aloud. "I never did anything wrong! I was just helping, you know? Just trying to survive… just like everyone else…"

"You will never know of survival." Pein spat, the most emotion in his voice Naruto had heard since meeting him, as if the other man had struck a resounding chord. "Of _hunger_."

He threw the man effortlessly into the wall, ending his pathetic life with a gravitational force to crush all his bones. Watanabe's body slumped to the floor in front of Konan, the woman walking over impassively to stand over the now dead corpse.

Pein turned to him.

"Does this man look familiar to you?" Pein gestured to the bloodied man leaning against the wall, head lolled and eyes closed. Even if he _did _look familiar, Naruto wouldn't be able to tell with all the swelling and blood, all the skeletal bone structure mangled.

He blinked. "I…"

"Does he?" Pein asked again, deceptively calm.

Did he? Had he ever been in Konoha? Would he have been, in this timeline? Naruto couldn't think straight, couldn't _remember… _"I don't know…" He answered, lamely.

Pein sighed. "It seems you had no use after all."

The man with the strange eyes took one step, pulling his hood off to reveal his face in the full lighting of the wintry moon. He looked younger than Naruto would have imagined, the piercings lining his nose glittered in the pallid lighting, a youthfulness to his full face that Naruto hadn't expected.

Before he could use that freaky gravity Jutsu on him, too, the entire line of windows shattered, a lightning fast blonde ninja barreling through them, causing Pein and Konan to retreat in the process.

By the time the glass had settled—a mere matter of seconds—the Yondaime had Pein pinned with a kunai to his neck, the other man looking surprised to see the blonde.

"Minato!"

The Yondaime looked up then, tearing his gaze away from Pein to see Naruto and Rin in the bloodied hall. For a moment, Minato didn't seem to recognize him in his Sexy no Jutsu form, before his eyes widened and he turned back to Pein.

"Well played, little girl." Pein surmised dryly, though he didn't look particularly judicious about it.

Naruto smirked. "You underestimated me."

"We're at a stalemate, then." Pein supposed, calm in the quiet wrath of the Yondaime Hokage holding a kunai to his neck. "What shall we do? Fight over who leaves this tower alive? Perhaps you were meant to take Watanabe with you—have you been deceiving us all along, girl? Or was this your whole purpose, to lure us here to fight your precious Yondaime?"

_What's so special about you? _Naruto wanted to ask, though knew he couldn't.

Minato pensively looked between the two of them. To Naruto, who looked ready, and almost itching for a fight, and to Rin, who was exhausted in the girl-Naruto's arms. And back to the mysterious young man in the cloak, who couldn't be any older than him, smiling elusively up at him. "Do you have an answer?"

"We'll leave." He decided, ferociously. "I'll take my team, you take yours, and we'll pretend like this never happened."

Naruto sighed, tension leaving him. Always the peace maker.

"Agreed." Pein nodded, the demure tone rivaled only by the smirk on his face.

Minato narrowed his eyes at the man, never once breaking eye contact, even as he moved across the room to grab Rin and Naruto. The blonde accidentally caught Pein's eyes, the strange Dojutsu spinning in them, calling out to him almost, before the Hirashin took over him.

.

.

.

The journey back to Konoha was quiet, and almost excruciatingly long. Long with both Obito and Kakashi injured, the trek was a long, grueling road that never seemed to end. Naruto could have cursed the musty heat, for the humidity seemed to trap it amongst the enormous trees, laying thick and clinging to his clothes.

And quiet for no one seemed up to talking.

Minato kept eying him, and Naruto kept looking in the other direction. Rin was too exhausted to do much else aside from plod along sullenly behind them, and Obito too injured to keep blabbing. And Kakashi, well, Kakashi hardly spoke at all, anyway.

It wasn't until the very end of their trip, when the air had finally crisped into a ripe coolness and the trees began to look marginally normal, with Konoha closer at every step, that Minato finally voiced what Naruto knew to be on his mind.

"Naruto…" Minato began slowly, carefully watching for any reaction with the other blonde. "Do you have… toad summons?"

Naruto paused in his steps.

"Toads?"

Minato eyed him.

There was a moment in which Naruto said nothing at all, his face covered by lemon colored hair. Minato waited for his answer with baited breath. Was it possible that Naruto had the same summon as him? But how? Only Jiraiya had the contract… had Naruto encountered Jiraiya? Was he a student as well? But how was that possible—?

And then, Naruto laughed.

"Toads?-!" He repeated, wiping at his eyes. "No! I summon _frogs_."

Minato blinked. "Eh?" And then… "But it was an amphibian…"

Naruto looked at him, amused. "Frogs are amphibians too, you know."

This was true. The Yondaime tried to think back on the summon he'd seen. It looked a lot like a toad… but wait? Didn't frogs look like toads too? It had been green after all… and a little slimy. But weren't toads like that too? What was the difference between them?-!

His confusion must have shown on his face, for Naruto continued to laugh.

Perhaps he'd been wrong after all.


	8. Sign

**Chap8chap8chap8chap8**

Minato followed Naruto with a keen eye, unsure if his incisiveness was only having him make hypothetical theories or actual conclusions. He hadn't gotten anything so far.

Naruto was… different. Though that was obvious to any observant shinobi.

The blonde Jounin was almost disturbingly intuitive, with a vast, almost omniscient knowledge that he seemed to keep a vigilant watch over. Though, Minato thought that if he just asked, he might get the answers he wanted.

Might.

Mostly, Naruto only followed Obito around good-naturedly, amused as the boy lead him around to various arcades, book stores, local shops, and of course, the ramen stand. Naruto seemed to get along well with his team, even Kakashi to an extent, though the two of them seemed cordial at best.

Minato didn't really mind, after all, it was good for his team to socialize, though that didn't stop him from carefully keeping an eye on the other blonde.

For the Jounin was certainly stronger than he let on.

Minato was certainly struggling to understand the blonde—though what he didn't now, was that the blonde was struggling to understand _himself._

He inherently was aware that a large part of who he was came from his parents. Genetics, and all. Minato was obviously his physical correlation, as the two of them could pass for twins if they wanted to. And Kushina, well, Kushina was the reason why a lot of people weren't _too _surprised he was such a stubborn, mulishly immature kid when he was younger.

And that was really all he'd thought of his mom. She was really pretty, yeah, and really nice when she wanted to be, though mostly she just had a temper. There was something almost… flat to their dynamic, a linear, straight accepted idea that this was his mother, she was fiery, and beautiful, and strong.

But not like Minato. Minato was fiery, strong and _real. _Naruto understood him more as a person, rather than a figment of time fixated in a single, memory-like dream place.

But Kushina was inadvertently going to change that.

It was only pure, unadulterated luck—or, perhaps in away, misfortune—that the two managed to meet while in line for coffee. And by then, it was only polite to stay and talk. Not that Naruto had any intentions of doing so, _no, _not when it was more awkward standing in her presence than he'd ever imagined it to be.

This was his mother, but she was just a pleasant looking woman with fiery, sea blue eyes. Just a stranger.

"I heard you went on a mission with Minato-san."

Ah, back to the formalities again.

"How was it?"

"You don't have to pretend to me." Naruto waved her off with a wry grin. "I know all about you two." _More than you probably know yourself. _

Kushina blushed. "Ah? Sorry, it's just habit now…" And with a far off look. "It's not good for people to know about us, you know? His reputation and all that…"

"His reputation?" Naruto echoed, sipping his coffee and choking. Straight black. Uck. The two had moved from decorous greetings in the coffee line to sitting at one of the tables in an inevitable socially acceptable dance that two reluctant acquaintances did when meeting awkwardly away from their usual circle of friends.

"Yeah." She leaned into her hand, propped on her elbow against the table, stirring her own chai tea morosely. "You know, him being the Yondaime and all that. Yellow Flash, all those Iwa kids out to get him, blah, blah, blah." She rolled her eyes with a silly, exasperated smile, appearing so nonchalant that Naruto knew, from experience, that she was faking it.

After all, he made that expression himself.

"But that's not really what bothers you, is it?"

Kushina stilled.

No, it wasn't Minato's infamous reputation.

It was _hers._

Though there were people few and far between who were aware of the nine tailed demon fox in her stomach. And those were a dangerous group of people.

Kushina blinked, pulling her head away from her hand. "I…"

"I know what you are." He spoke, demurely.

At this, she violently moved away, jogging her elbow from the table and clutching one hand to the armrest of the chair. The wall of vague, courteous amiability shattered completely. "What are you…"

He smiled, yieldingly. "I am one too."

Naruto wondered how time could allow this, one nine-tailed demon fox in Kushina, and one in Naruto. _How did time allow any of this?_ He wondered belatedly. How was it even physically possible for him to be sitting here next to Kushina, staring into her water colored eyes and watching the color drain out of her face?

"You mean a—… a…" The tension eased from her shoulders. "A Jinchuuriki?"

"Yes." He nodded, still smiling. "There are nine of them, you know."

"Of course I know." She bristled, looking annoyed he thought her so dim. What pride. He snickered to himself. Definitely runs in the family. "I just, didn't think I'd meet any others, I guess. We're not exactly common, you know."

"More than you'd think." Naruto laughed. After all, every ninja had their own demons. Just not physically sealed to their stomach.

"Does Minato know… about you?" Kushina asked hesitantly, probably the most decorous he'd seen of her.

Naruto shook his head. "No," She looked relieved. Then he added, "But I'm going to tell him."

She deflated.

"You should tell him too, you know." Naruto advised seriously. After all, when it came to sealing him it'd be pretty messed up if Minato was completely unaware his wife was a Jinchuuriki.

"I know." She blew at her bangs. "I just…—everytime I get around to it, something gets in the way! Or _I _get in the way. Sometimes I wake up and think, 'today I'll tell him'. And then… I don't. I end up just putting it off again—like I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity that I know will never come. The one who knows is Sandaime-sama, and Mito-sensei…err—she did, anyway." Kushina looked down. "Before she died."

Naruto nodded, unsure of what to say. He'd never had to deal with one of his closest friends dying, let alone a teacher. Not even Sasuke, who seemed to have drifted so far away from him—was still alive, tangibly.

"I thought I was alone." She whispered.

"Well you're definitely not alone." Said Naruto, seriously, before grinning. "And anyway, you have Minato! You guys can have a big, happy family, don't you think?"

She smiled softly. "Yeah." And then, with conviction. "Yeah. A _big _family. Like, twelve kids or something."

Naruto blanched. "That would hurt, wouldn't it?"

"Who cares?" Kushina laughed, and for someone so loudly offensive she had a perfect bell-like laugh. And a smile that split her face into wide, brimming happiness. His smile. "I've always wanted a lot of kids. A _ton _of kids."

Naruto watched her, this woman of happiness, wondering if his smile looked as forced as it felt. "I'm sure you'll get it." He promised, with false sincerity.

.

.

.

He felt a little bad, lying to Kushina like that. Mostly though, he just felt bad for himself, even though he didn't know why. After all, he had the most loving, wonderful parents in the world. They just hadn't been there when he'd needed them the most.

Naruto was beginning to realize why people took his father so seriously, some even shaking at the thought of his mere memory.

He certainly hadn't been made Yondaime for no reason, as it seemed even subconsciously the man had picked up on Naruto's oddities, even when the blonde tried fervently to hide them. The summon thing seemed to be really grating on him—as if part of him wanted to believe Naruto, a boy who'd given him no reason to distrust him, and the other, more rational part knew it to be a farce.

Maybe it was time for some truth between all his white lies.

And the least he could do was warn the guy, right? This was what he was going to lose his _life _to.

Which was why, as he put down his ramen and quietly thanked Teuchi for the nice meal, he made his way to the training grounds.

They weren't far, and Naruto found his thoughts wandering to the future. He'd expected Jiraiya to call him back now. They hadn't figured a way to fix the continuum issue, so everyday he spent in the past was still a day not there in the future. It had been about three weeks or so, and while he was thoroughly enjoying his time here, every time he saw Team Seven he thought of the half-remembered dream of a red colored bridge, a lazy sensei and a rival with a blackened soul, still existing somewhere in the lapse of time. Every time Rin smiled, Sakura did too, somewhere in his memories.

He could go back there, if he wanted. One seal and he'd be there, leaning against that red bridge and looking into that watery sky.

But it wouldn't be the same.

He entered the clearing, full of three-pronged kunai sticking up out of the ground, the trees, and even a few training poles. A yellow blur was racing around them, throwing more and more kunai until the ground was so effectively skewered with them it seemed to be made of spikes.

One came Naruto's way, and he caught it deftly.

A few seconds later, and Konoha's Yellow Flash near barreled straight into him, teleporting to the kunai in Naruto's hand and rolling out of the way.

Minato blinked up at him, disoriented.

"Up and at it already, huh?" Naruto smiled.

Minato rolled his eyes, getting up off the ground and dusting himself off. "Seems you are too."

"Eh?"

"Up and at it, eating ramen already." Minato grinned, pointing to his head. "There's a noodle in your hair."

"_Whaat?_" He balked as he pulled it out. And Teuchi had just stood there and waved back at him, letting him look like a fool! The guy probably thought it was funny, too…

"I didn't expect to see you here!" Minato exclaimed, still smiling. It fell slowly though, as he realized Naruto wasn't smiling back.

No, Naruto was studying him with intense delphinium eyes. As if contemplating his chakra patterns, his strengths and his weaknesses and his very soul. Minato swallowed. Perhaps he'd passed, because Naruto's eyes trailed back to his own, the sky and the ocean clashing against each other, like infinity to infinity.

"I want to fight you."

Minato felt like the floor had dropped below him.

And then,

"What?"

Naruto titled his head. "You don't want to?"

"It's not that…" Minato faltered. Though maybe it was. He'd never had an issue with some friendly sparring and camaraderie, but for some reason, he couldn't fathom the thought of fighting Naruto. As if it was some sort of inherent, cardinal sin.

"Well then c'mon." And then the grin was back, but it was fixed, vulturine smile, as if the blonde was avariciously picking him apart. "You did say you wanted me to teach you something." Naruto reminded.

But he'd meant some sort of inconsequential, interesting little thing, not… not a fight.

Like they were enemies.

"Alright then." He steadied himself. "Why not?"

Why not indeed.

Naruto was just as fast as him, if not faster. Minato found himself wondering why Naruto had been so subservient on that mission—when he'd been under that strange-eyed man's power. Surely, he could have fought him tooth and nail, and won, even. (Of course, Naruto had no intention of winning, or fighting at all)

Each strike was parried effectively, and blades met, sprung apart, and met again. He bolted out of the fray, rolling on his feet and leaping for the higher advantage. Naruto joined him, the two flying into a taijutsu match that exceeded gravity for a moment, whirling punches and kicks, dodging and hits until the two descended back down.

He nimbly blocked one of Naruto's kicks, using the velocity to drop onto one of the trees, Naruto doing the same.

The blonde charged again, too fast for Minato to think of ninjutsu or genjutsu. The flurry of rapid Taijutsu almost reminded him of speed-fighting, so quick it was almost too much to keep up.

He'd thought he'd finally gotten the jump on the blonde, parrying strikes in a gravity defying knife fight, when Naruto acrobatically sprung away, giving Minato the briefest glimpse of inhuman looking eyes before an _unnatural _red chakra seemed to seep out of him in puissant, burning waves.

They met again, and Minato's eyes widened as he was met with not blue, but red irises on the blonde's face.

A doujutsu?

But then what was that red chakra?

He didn't think much of it, continuing to fight tooth and nail for the advantage, getting as close as possible with such a short-ranged weapon. He didn't have any warning when the red chakra lashed out, swiping at his chest with a ferocity.

The blonde Hokage recoiled, springing away to land some feet away from the other blonde, who was eying him with an apprehensive, if not determined look.

"What was that?" He asked, voice strangled. His vest was wet with blood… Naruto had landed a hit with that, that, _chakra. _

"I'm teaching you." Naruto said, a little too amiable for Minato's liking.

"Teaching me what?" The other blonde asked rhetorically, wiping at the blood drooling down his vest. The wound was relatively shallow, but still annoying. "Your bloodlimit?"

"It's not a bloodlimit." Naruto explained by not explaining, looking exasperated at him.

Minato paused. "Then what is it?"

"A demon."

Shock colored the Yondaime's face, evident in the draining of his palour, but he had no time for the words to truly set in, only a wave of panic as he quickly made to parry Naruto's quick strike.

When he leapt this time, Minato made sure to give them more distance, keeping a furtive eye to the boiling red chakra, and the other to the blonde's lightning quick strikes. There wasn't even a need for Ninjutsu at this point, the fight ascending to a much higher caliber then any elemental technique could assist.

This strange demonic chakra almost reminded Minato of the gates. It seemed that by accessing it Naruto was incredibly faster, more powerful than he'd been before. Minato was hard pressed to use the Hirashin, after all, if Naruto was using an ace card he should be allowed the same luxury. But he wasn't sure if it would exactly help… the extra speed, perhaps. But it wouldn't show him how to defeat this new level.

"We can stop now." Naruto said quietly, and it was then that Minato noticed he looked almost… lost.

The Hokage dropped his guard, but not without caution.

"What is…" But then the red chakra receded. "_Was,_" He amended. "That?"

"It's demonic chakra." The blonde began, cheerfully conversational. He sat himself down on the ground, motioning for Minato to follow. "As you probably know by now, I'm a Jinchuuriki."

Minato blinked at him, blankly, following with great reluctance. "A… what?"

Naruto froze.

Ah.

This was going to be a long conversation.

"I'm…" Naruto paused, wondering how to word this. "Well, I'm human, but I house a demon. Does that make sense?"

He thought on it, for a moment, the very mind-blowing idea of it. "Yes." Minato stopped. "But it doesn't seem possible."

"It's very possible." Naruto nodded, smiling as Minato carefully sat in front of him. "And happens all the time."

The blonde was looking at him unsurely.

"I'm sure you've heard of the nine-tailed demons."

"The myth?" Minato scrunched his brows. "About the moon and the first ninja—

"That one." Naruto interrupted, waving the rest off. "Most of it is considered just myth, but those tailed demons are real. They're entities of chakra. It was said that the first Hokage used his Mokuton Jutsu to seal these beasts and give them to other nations as peace treaties. That much is true. Ever since then, its normal for Jinchuuriki to be part of the Kage's family."

And at Minato's blank gaze, he shrugged. "It's a sign of trust."

"Wait." The blonde halted. "I get that they're real. And that you quite obviously have one. But you're not a Sarutobi… are you?"

"No."

"But you're a Konoha shinobi! So where—?"

"But where did I come from?" Naruto smiled enigmatically.

Minato mouth opened. "Oh." So Naruto had been Uzushiogakure's Jinchuuriki?

And then his curiosity got the better of him. "Which one do you—

"It doesn't matter." Naruto smiled, cutting him off. Minato hated to see it, that hurting half smile, as if Naruto thought he couldn't see right through it.

"And Konoha?" Minato tried in vain to keep the nagging curiosity out of his voice. "Does Konoha have one too?"

And again, that evasive smile. "Ah, I'm sure it does…"

Huh.

How vague.

"Ah, but anyway." Naruto got up then, stretching out his back. "That was a good match, huh? I hope I taught you something interesting."

"You did." Minato answered, honestly.

And this time, the returning grin was honest and true. And it made Minato all the more pleased to see it. "Yeah? Good to know!" Naruto chuckled. "We should do this every week!"

"I wouldn't mind." Said the Yondaime, seriously.

Naruto blinked at him, as if surprised that his off-handed comment was being met with such stunning austereness.

"Ah…" The blonde trailed off, taken aback. "Well, sure then. Why not?"

Minato smiled. Naruto wasn't his student—and he wasn't Naruto's. And somehow, that made it all the better.

To think, here was this boy who'd been here this whole time, overflowing with such vast, omnipotent knowledge. How had they not met before, before that fateful spring morning in Iwagakure?

Where had Naruto been his whole life?


	9. Broken Youth

_This may help to better understand the confusing seals used for timetravel. Yes, their inconsistencies are purposeful. At any rate, so Naruto has one anchor seal to use, which he has placed in a Jounin jacket in Minato's time. It works like a signal, and every time Naruto jumps into the past from the future it draws him to that time like a beacon. That's all it does. The process of jumping from past to future and future to past require a whole other seal. _

And the sky wrenched apart, leaving nothing in its wake aside from a vertiginous swirl of patterned clouds and a boy laying on a grassy hillside, dandelions tickling his cheeks.

He surfaced then, pupils dilating as they opened from what seemed to be a capricious dream, sky a stewing, blinding gray.

And he felt like he was surfacing after spending years asleep.

.

.

X

.

.

That reticent, taciturn look to Naruto's face didn't suit him, Sakura thought, but there was little she could do about it. After all, how could she help him when he refused to help himself? Refused to let _her _help.

The young Chuunin could have punched the wall in her frustration. There was little else she heated—feared—more than anything, and that was helplessness.

Useleness.

And that was all she could feel right now.

"Where have you been?"

It was hard to not sound accusing.

Naruto's turning into the dazzling, bright gold of the sun, turning and walking away from her. Showing up out of the ether three weeks later, an unreadable, somber expression to his face that she didn't appreciate. Naruto was her rock, an unmovable, indomitable cornerstone which assured her of complacency, assured her that Naruto was Naruto, and that no matter how far he went or how long he left, he would come back.

And he had come back.

But not in the sense of the word.

As if part of him had wandered off, maundered into the distance where she couldn't follow, somewhere unreachable and left a disoriented, metaphysical man in its wake.

This was Naruto.

Sort of.

It was telling how his eyes moved towards the window, to birds flying like black silhouettes in the sky. Freedom. Somewhere, out there. But where?

"A mission." He decided upon, tasting the words like he did his takoyaki, as if decided whether they would satisfy her. "An A-Class. Tsunade wanted me on a solo—

"Tsunade?" Sakura's eyes narrowed. Reluctantly, Naruto met them, as if realizing he'd been caught. "You never call her Tsunade." No, just old woman, old hag, old bat.

But Sakura could admit defeat when it stared her in the face. Naruto had his own troubles, his own issues, and she knew, though she may not want to admit it, that he could and would solve them on his own. He wasn't pushing her away. He was giving himself space. And though she truly would rather drop kick him in the face and physically wrench the answers out of his throat, if there was one thing Sakura had gained after the event of Team Seven's breaking, it was patience.

"You're safe though, right?" She whispered, beside herself. "And okay? Truly?"

He nodded. "I'm okay." And then, with a smile. "I'm here, Sakura."

_But you're not._

"How is it?" She asked airily, and made a vague motion with her hand. "There. Wherever there is. Can you tell me that, at least? Is it cold… do you eat enough? You're taking care of yourself, right?"

"Of course I am!" He chirruped, like a brief memory of himself. But Naruto hadn't been carefree in a long time. Since he had come back from the Valley of the End, he'd mitigated from a rash, worriless little kid to a determined, driven young man. And though he'd never really lost his sunny disposition, he'd lost that naivety, that guileless mulishness that used to define him. "I always take care of my self, Sakura-chan. It's a little cold there right now, but it'll be warmer soon. I'm fed, yes. I have ramen everyday—more so than I should, anyway. I've got a place to stay and everything.

This was just as much a part of Naruto as the loud brat who used to obnoxiously pester her for ramen.

And as a smile cracked at his face, she knew the worst was to come.

"I'm really happy there."

Those were the words she didn't want to hear.

.

.

.

"Kakashi thinks you're depressed."

The blonde snorted. "Yeah? Kakashi also thinks Jiraiya isn't a pervert. His opinion doesn't count."

How odd, to see Naruto without his usual, visceral temerity. There was no impulsiveness to his lingering gaze, to his easy, wanderer's gait and the slow arch of his shoulders.

The summer heat made the air hot and sticky, carpeted like a thick drapery of sweat and smelling like corn and farmlands. How Naruto managed to walk himself all the way out here, till the very edges of Konoha where nothing but sprawling farms held to the ground Shikamaru would never know. It was just him, the blonde, and this dirt path hat seemed to wind all the way into the setting sun.

Shikamaru groaned, rubbing at the back of his head. "Sakura's been harping on me too. She says we hang out a lot, so I should know things."

But this was a clear over statement.

Because, though Shikamaru and Naruto were close, they certainly didn't, 'hang out a lot'. That was to say, if Naruto hung out with anyone. The blonde had been mysteriously absent as of late, something which Shikamaru had keenly taken notice of.

The blue of his eyes slid to the lazy Jounin beside him. "And?"

"I told her it was too troublesome."

Naruto snickered, shaking his head. "Everything's too troublesome for you, isn't it?"

"Well, a lot of things.." Shikamaru shrugged, plodding beside the blonde sullenly. "You, for one."

Naruto smiled, a wrangled, warped mirror of its younger version. "I feel like I've been doing that a lot to people lately."

"Being troublesome?"

Naruto nodded.

"Don't take it personally." Said Shikamaru wryly. "Pretty much everyone's troublesome."

The blonde snickered. "I won't then."

Shikamaru let the conversation die down, wondering if it was really worth it to take the effort to pry into Naruto's secrets. They were his own, undoubtedly, and Shikamaru really didn't have a need, or any sort of burning curiosity to pick the blonde apart. He'd always been a bit of a study in progress, and Shikamaru had learned to just let him unfurl as he would without prior prediction.

The brunette sighed, before taking a breath. "Naruto…" He began slowly. "All these people being more annoying than usual… wouldn't have anything to do with your mission, would it?"

And the blonde closed, not in any physical way, just a brief flutter of his closed eyes. "Is this an interrogation?"

"It depends."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a maybe."

Naruto's eyes opened, and he idly scuffed dirt with his shoes. "Yes and no." Said the blonde eventually, a certain veraciousness to his defeated voice. "Sakura's just overreacting a bit. I think she expects me to defect from the Village or something—but then again, she expects that out of everyone nowadays."

"And is it true?"

"No." Naruto scoffed, scowling with irritation. "Of course not."

"She's really worried." The brunette pointed out. "And I know that she worries in general, but this is different."

"Sakura thinks I want to be on the mission more than I want to be home." And then, with a prolonged, exasperated look to Shikamaru's questioning gaze. "Which I admit, might be a little true."

"So it's one of those alias missions?"

"Something like that, yeah." Naruto didn't have the heart to tell him it was so much more than that. And he had a feeling Shikamaru didn't want to hear it anyways. Fortunately, the man was too lazy for his own good.

Shikamaru sighed, looking up at a cloud with a digestive, if not lazy expression to his face. "How troublesome."

Naruto watched the same cloud.

"It's not just Sakura." Shikamaru revealed blowing out a breath and giving a pointed look to Naruto. "It's Kakashi, Hokage-sama, that dumb moron Kiba… somehow even between laps Lee has managed to notice."

Naruto blanched. To think, all he had to do to get some attention around here was disappear for a few weeks.

"Talking makes you feel better." Shikamaru advised lightly.

"Hell no." And Naruto shot him down in flames.

The lazy Nara looked like he was going to attempt round too, but luckily for Naruto the two were interrupted as a Chuunin whorled into existence from a clout of smoke. He stepped out of the dissipating clouds, scroll held out in his hands.

"Uzumaki."

For a moment, Naruto looked around for Kushina, before realizing that the Chuunin was here for him.

"For me?" Naruto said by way of greeting.

The man—probably a new Chuunin, as Naruto didn't recognize him, though his face looked vaguely familiar, as if the blonde had seen him some years below him at the Academy—nodded, giving the scroll to Naruto.

"It's from Hokage-sama. She wants—

But Naruto didn't wait for his explanation.

It was easier to just see the hag in person.

Tsunade was halfway into her third stack of paperwork, and was feeling rather good about it. Of course, she was failing to remember the large towering stacks around her desk, but at this point, it didn't seem like she ever cared to remember them. She sometimes wondered how the hell that flaxen-haired brat had roped her into this job, but all she had to do was remember his smiling sheepish face as he finished the Rasengan, complaining about how he'd never get strong enough to be Hokage at this rate. All she had to do was remember his laugh.

There was a slight remnant to that exact face in the man in front of her, a little around the rounded, scarred cheeks. Most of it had been swallowed wholly by the shadow of Minato though, who lingered over every inch of the tanned blonde like a venerable cloak.

"Naruto." She greeted, pleasantly enough.

Naruto smiled back. "Hey, obaa-chan." Gah. "How are you? What's the scroll for?"

Tsunade shrugged. "Formalities?" Half of her had expected that Chuunin to come back a few hours later, apologetically explaining that he hadn't been able to find the blonde anywhere. She hadn't wanted to send a hawk in fear of the same, only in a shorter period of time.

And then, "Jiraiya's informed me of your mission."

"It's not much of a mission." Naruto shrugged. "I'm just observing time periods—and not getting paid." He added pointedly. This could be considered more of volunteer work, considering there was no hefty check at the end.

"He's worried for you."

"Is _that _how this all started?" Naruto rolled his eyes, exasperated. Typical. There was nothing faster than the Konoha grapevine.

"He didn't say as much, but I figured." She smirked, dryly. "He's been unusually prudish lately. I haven't had any complaints from the local public baths."

"That is _unusual._" Naruto snorted, though wasn't nearly as surprised as he made it out to be. He could still recall Jiraiya's face, a somber mixture of resigned besetment and solicitude.

"I can call him, if you want." She began unsurely, eyes watching Naruto. "If it helps, I can."

"No!" Said the blonde, more hurriedly than he'd meant to. "That's not necessary."

Tsunade raised a brow at such an elicit reaction. For a moment there… though she may have just imagined it… she was sure there had been a brief flicker of fear rising in the blonde's eyes. Did that idiot do something again? Or—she eyed him carefully, appraising him with a narrowed gaze—was it guilt festering beneath the surface?

She debated calling him out on it, before leaning back in her chair with a heaved sigh. "If you say so."

Naruto nodded, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

.

.

.

"He's leaving us, Shikamaru."

The Nara wondered how Sakura found him, then recalled that this was his usual haunt, and generally everyone came round at least once to talk to him. And by everyone he meant that loudmouth Kiba, appraising the voluptuous women, or what he assumed were—because Kiba wasn't exactly the best judge in females—as they passed. Occasionally Chouji, who nursed his chips more than his beer. Ino sometimes as well, though that was really just to use him as a ploy to pick up other guys. Even Lee, once or twice, unsurprisingly ordering a soda before chatting up the lazy Jounin the entire night.

That was a nightmare.

So he wasn't entirely surprised that Sakura knew where he was, as she was ultimately the smartest of their bunch. Well, would have been, if not for him. But usually he didn't count, as mostly he did little else aside from sleep.

"He's not leaving." Shikamaru sighed, already knowing who she was referring to. It seemed to be the same person _everyone _was referring to. Naruto always did know how to stir up the Konoha gossip into a wild, brewing rage.

Sakura looked like she thought the exact opposite.

"He's not that dumb." Though invariably, Naruto did have his rather dim moments. "Do you think he'd actually betray the village?"

"Of course not!" Snapped Sakura, looking offended. And then, deflating, "Sorry. I've just… been on edge lately."

"S'alright." He shrugged.

For a moment, Shikamaru thought—hoped—she may just leave it at that.

"But Shikamaru…" She began again, unsteadily, crushing his dreams, "You saw him, he—

"He's not happy here." Shikamaru finished for her, resigning himself to another night of silent, insightful contemplation ruined. "I know."

She looked down, sullenly. "What are we supposed to do…" And then, "What am _I _supposed to do?"

"This isn't something you can just fix yourself, Sakura." Quite the opposite, actually. "Obviously, it's Naruto's issue. If he decides to involve us, well, that's ultimately his decision as well. All we can do is stand by him and hope he resolves it himself."

"And if he doesn't?" She refuted, voice rising. "I mean, not that I don't trust him—because I do, implicitly—but Naruto has a tendency to put the world on his shoulders, he _always _has to be the hero and I _know _it's getting him into trouble now, but he just refuses to see it like that, refuses for anyone to help him—

"And don't you think you're meddling a bit?" Shikamaru pointed out, quite used to meddlesome women, as they dominated his life.

"I _know_!" She bit out, slamming a frustrated fist into the countertop. The bartender wasn't particularly pleased, as almost every glassware he had rattled as the entire place quaked. The background chatter ceased into a weary silence. Sakura looked around, a little guiltily. "I know." She repeated, quietly.

Oh no… she wasn't going to cry, was she?

"You're worried, I get it." Shikamaru blew a raspberry. "You don't have to be."

"But what happens…" She looked away. "What happens if he doesn't want to stay here anymore?"

"Logically? He's going to renounce his title as a Konoha shinobi—so he doesn't get marked as a missing-nin—probably resign all his duties and go back to wherever he's going." Though Shikamaru figured this was precisely what she didn't want to hear.

"And you're not concerned?" Her voice was rising in pitch again. "That he'll do that? That… that he'll leave?"

"Yes, I'm concerned." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, wondering why all women were so needy. So needy and… needing to be assured all the time. Maybe not all women though, he amended. After all, Temari would probably rather take a kunai to the foot than start whining. "We're all concerned."

"Then don't tell me you haven't thought about it. Come up with ideas." She sat herself down on the stool. "Do you have any idea where he's going? Any at all?"

Shikamaru gave pause. Of course he did. At some point in his life, he'd probably thought on everything. And recently, he'd also thought on Naruto, too. That knuckle-headed ninja… always getting himself into some sort of trouble. It seemed to rise with stunning perniciousness as he grew.

"I have a few." He admitted, though from his sour face it looked like he'd rather not share. After all, they didn't even make much sense, even in his own head.

After all… Naruto would know better than to mess with something as all encompassing as time, right?

.

.

.

Sasuke grunted, watching the small fly that buzzed around one of the dimly lit lamps.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses with one hand, leaning casually against the rock wall. Him and Sasuke—although he wasn't Orochimaru's subordinate for no reason, he knew that members of Team Hebi were outside the door—were inside a smaller mission room, with a large stretch table and some lamps. It was supposed to set the mood for something like an interrogation, but Sasuke was much too old to be fearing dreary caverns and craggy rocks. That's why said Uchiha leaned back casually in his chair, frowning into the darkness as he did so.

"Just a theory of course." Kabuto smiled, leering. "But it seems your Uzumaki friend is growing…very powerful."

If anything, the scowl deepened. "What the hell do you want with me then?"

"There's no evidence of this, of course. We need you to watch Uzumaki closely. We don't know what exactly he's doing or how he's doing it. All we know is that he's extremely powerful and these Chakra surges were caused by him."

"Can you do this?" The man pushed up his glasses, eyes twinkling.

A cold ferocity rose in those dark eyes at the implication. "Of course."

Smirking, Kabuto watched Sasuke leave the room. Orochimaru was right; it was so easy to use the Uchiha's pride against him.

The boy was an easily manipulated fool.

.

.

X

.

.

Minato frowned as he looked at the notes once again.

As the Hokage to be (and counting down the weeks until such) he had easy access to the sections in the library that no one else could, but more importantly, he had access to the great Hokage library, filled with techniques no one could possibly even dream of. He was certain, that after rummaging through it—much to the Sandaime's chagrin, the old man kept saying that he needed to be more careful with these books—he found the books he was looking for. Sadly, they were a bit vague on the topics he truly wanted more detail on.

When he asked the Sandaime in person, hoping that the venerable, wise old man may hold more answers than any fortuitous, obscure text could, he was met with a literal brick wall.

The Sandaime only mysteriously told him that he may need to look closer than he thought, which only confused the Yondaime to be even further.

Was he talking of Naruto, then? That was, assuming that the Sandaime was aware of Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki… something even Minato hadn't found out about until recently.

Jinchuuriki.

He tasted the word, like such an ancient, worn word that it almost sounded foreign. He'd heard it before, somewhere. Perhaps in some ambiguous mythlore he'd been told long ago, a circuitous reference he could no longer recall.

There was a lot to Naruto he didn't know. And if there was a general rule of thumb to Minato, it was that he didn't like not knowing things. Predictability made him at ease—and Naruto seemed to be the exact opposite of that. Minato could admit to himself that he almost thought of the boy as his son, even though now he realized he knew virtually nothing about him.

And his thoughts brought him, indirectly, once more to the blonde in question.

Minato sighed.

He could just never get away from the kid, huh?

Naruto had disappeared again.

Obito was relentlessly pacing their meeting place—a red bridge near one of the training fields, but Naruto hadn't shown up in about a week.

In fact, there were times when the boy just seemed to…disappear off the face of the Earth.

Rin had tried to use this new tracking jutsu she learned, to trace Naruto's chakra trail to wherever he was. This was still when the three (two technically, Kakashi was kind of out of it) had thought he was hiding from them and this was some sort of game. So they traced the trail, Minato following their lead amusingly. But, suddenly the trail stopped. Just stopped. There was nothing in its wake but a little bit of charred grass and an ink brush. The three—two actually—were puzzled, wondering if they had followed the wrong trail or something like that.

Eventually, they had come to the conclusion that it was a clue that Naruto left for them.

At this point, which was about the third day after Naruto's disappearance, Obito and Rin were both stumped on what these 'clues' could mean. The charred grass had to mean fire or something, but what was with the ink brush? There was nothing to connect their evidence, and the two were ready to give up. By the fourth day, Obito had found another one of the 'clues'. A piece of burned paper, not too far away from the end of the trail and tapered to a bush. They figured the wind had carried it away.

But by the fifth day the two of them had sighed and went back to their lame D-rank missions.

But Minato knew something different. The charred paper and grass meant that the paper and grass were together, and the ink brush was probably from painting the paper.

For what, he didn't know. Maybe Naruto was trying calligraphy and got angry, and ended up burning the thing, as ludicrous as the whole idea sounded. Then again, it was entirely possible that he and his team were making such a serious event out of what could be only a trivial matter. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, considering Obito.

"Sensei! Sensei!"

He shook his head out of his musings, as Rin ran up to him.

"What's up, Rin-chan?"

The young brunette skidded to a halt in front of him, bangs flying out of her face as she beamed up at him. "Naruto-kun's back!"

He blinked. Eyes widening. So Naruto was finally back, huh?

Rin took his hand and dragged him down the stairs, and as they burst out of the Hokage Tower she took off in the direction of downtown, and as they progressed further into the crowd, Minato realized they were going to Ichiraku Ramen. Of course, he smiled ruefully; Naruto would return and eat ramen. They were so alike sometimes it scared him. True to his thinking, Obito and Naruto were currently slurping down their second ramen bowl—at an alarming rate. He chuckled slightly.

"Where's Kakashi-kun?"

"Sick." Obito answered breezily, between a large noodle.

Rin nodded from beside him. "He got caught with a bad cold yesterday; I guess his mask isn't really useful."

Naruto chuckled. "I think Kakashi uses his mask for different reasons."

Minato looked down at him, stern face morphing into a grin with one look at the sunny blonde. "Where have you been?"

"Well, you see…" Naruto rubbed at his head, setting his third bowl down. "I was helping a nice girl with pink hair, and then I was talking to a pineapple for a bit—

"What a liar!" Rin crowed, throwing a chopstick at his head.

Naruto ducked. "No consideration at all!" He snorted, chortling.

"Why would I, when you're clearly making this all up?" Rin puffed, looking annoyed. "You're a terrible liar, Naruto."

And the blonde smiled enigmatically. "But I'm not lying."

The girl rolled her eyes before laughing. She swiped more chopsticks and began to fling them good naturedly at the blonde, Teuchi voicing his protests as they ended up stuck into the side of the stall like kunai. Obito did as well, as Rin plucked his chopsticks right out of his mouth, crying out as he made a grab for them, only to duck as she flung a soy sauce bottle.

This would mark the first time Naruto had ever been kicked out of Ichiraku, ever.

Oddly, he wasn't too upset about it.

"But honestly, Naruto." Minato frowned, picking out a fish tail out of his hair. He gave a glance to the other blonde plodding next to him, half of his face and Jounin vest splattered with paint. "Where _have _you been?"

"Around." Shrugged the blonde.

"And where have you been 'around' for this entire week?" Minato asked, eyes narrowed. He knew he was being a bit petulant, but he'd been searching for the other blonde for the better part of five days. It was almost… strange, how easily it seemed the blonde could take a literal swan dive off the face of the earth.

"And why did you leave us clues?" Rin piped up.

Naruto stopped suddenly. "Clues?" He asked, face losing pallor.

"Yeah! Like the paper, and the ink brushes!" Obito piped up.

Minato caught the look of sheer timorousness draining the blonde of color, wondering what had the blonde so on edge. Quite apparently, they hadn't been left for them to find. And, true to his intuition—they hadn't been frivolous matters, either.

"Ah, well." And then just as quickly he was smiling again, rubbing at his hair. Minato noticed he did that a lot—hell, so did Minato. "Well, my friend has been teaching me how to draw animals, but I got so sick of how terribly my drawings were that I just burned 'em!"

"Eh?

Well, a half truth, anyway. Sai really did teach him how to draw, and it wasn't the first time he'd hurled a fireball at both the irritating Chuunin and his own pathetic attempts.

Minato only eyed him carefully, his gut warring with his logic. Of course it was something candidly meaningless—what else could it have been? And yet, in the back of his mind came the intuitive clarity honed from years on the field, that burning sensation that reminded him that something was amiss.

"So where _did _you go?" Obito asked, breaking tthe Hokage out of his thoughts as he peered up at the other blonde.

"Go?" Naruto echoed, puzzled. "I didn't go anywhere. I've been in Konoha this whole time."

"B—But!" Rin protested. "The chakra signature—

"Most shinobi can mask their chakra." Naruto reminded lightly, waving a finger at her.

Rin blushed. That was true. "Oh."

"Wait, wait!" Obito butted in. "Then…why did you mask your chakra?"

Naruto blinked owlishly. Minato paused. This was true—for once, Obito brought up a good point. If Naruto really wasn't up to nefarious purposes, what was he doing being so… sneaky? Minato appraised the other blonde. Naruto had never really given any indication of being anything but a decorous, if not a little stubborn Jounin. Was that a wrong impression?

And then, the blonde pulled a face, laughing. "I was spying on the bath house."

Rin blinked, once… twice…

And then;

"YOU PERVERT!"

She smacked him upside the head, only to have it turn out to be a log. Naruto snickered as he reappeared next to Obito, the boy giving the older Jounin some ecstatic back clapping and a few enthusiastic yelps. Minato wondered why everyone around him was so perverted. First Jiraiya, now Naruto… who would be next? _Kakashi_?

"Didn't strike you as a pervert, Naruto." He chuckled.

Naruto only gave him a vulpine smirk. "I learned from my Sensei." Said the blonde, seriously, even as his eyes twinkled.

"Your Sensei must have been quite a pervert." The Yondaime surmised, immediately thinking of Jiraiya. Seemed they shared that in common too.

"Yep. They both were, actually."

Of course, Minato wasn't aware that they actually shared the _same _Sensei.

Rin gasped in horror. "Oh no! Naruto-kun—please don't tell me they rubbed off on you!"

"I was peaking in the hot springs." Said the blonde flatly, rolling his eyes. "What do you think?"

Obito began to throw himself in fits with laughter, wheezing a coughing as Rin gave an terrified cry, waving a finger at Naruto incomprehensibly. Minato let out a bark of laughter, and Naruto found himself turning sharply at the sound, never seeing the Hokage come… so undone. So… carefree.

He couldn't help it.

He was smiling too.

.

.

.

"Jeez!" Obito groaned, throwing his plow down on the dirt. "I hate farming!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Rin wiped sweat off of her brow. "Get back to work!"

"Right." Obito squeaked, hastily drawing himself up again.

He was a bit afraid of Rin at times like these. Especially when she growled and snarled and was sticky and sweaty, but more importantly, pissed as hell. They were in charge of plowing an old farmer's field—the man himself was sick and couldn't do it himself. Kakashi was finally over that sickness of his, and was somewhere in the backdrop farther off from them. But Obito and Rin were working side by side, that was, until Obito had decided to throw a fit.

"Honestly." Rin groaned more to herself than anything. "I can't believe we have another one of these crap missions."

Obito moped. "Well, you were the one who said that you didn't want anymore—

"I didn't say that!" Rin hissed at him. "Moron! I said that we should wait a little before taking on another tough mission, I didn't mean—

She waved a hand over the large farmlands.

—this!"

Obito just sighed, adjusting his goggles with disdain as he noted the red angry marks they had made on his sweating forehead. It was way to hot to be in black. Actually, for mid spring it was way to hot in _general_.

"Keep at it kids!" Minato waved from somewhere. His position on a large metal bucket seemed comfortable.

"Shut up!" Rin squawked at him, looking away quickly so she didn't have to see her sensei laughing at them.

Naruto watched the two with interest.

"It was kind of mean of you to give them such a crappy mission." He noted with glee.

Minato rolled his eyes. "You would have done the same."

"Good point."

"That's it!" Obito, despite Rin's blatant protests, threw his plow on the ground again and growled.

"Sensei!"

Minato squeaked. The Hokage-to-be wasn't entirely sure if Obito's mad rage was induced by him or the heat. Either way, it didn't bode a good future for the blond haired-Hokage. Naruto seemed to be a willing spectator to the event, an amused smile curving around the corners of his lips. Minato wanted to wipe the smug look right off his face. One day, the blonde would get a Gennin team of his own, and bear the brunt of their incessant _needs. _One day…

"We need training!" The Uchiha groaned. "As in now! As in like…flashy Jutsu and cool moves and just…S ensei please!"

"I hate to agree with him!" Rin called from a little ways off. "But it's the truth!"

There was a moment of silence, as Naruto bowed his head in silent laughter, Obito howled in rage, Rin leaned against her plow, Minato gulped inconspicuously, and Kakashi continued onwards in his work.

"Uhm…" Was all the Namikaze could manage.

"Please? Please?"

It would have worked perfectly, if Minato could actually figure something that he could teach them. Well…water walking? No, already did. Tree walking? Definitely no, that was a while ago. Obito already knew the basics, and he didn't know what else he could teach them besides specialty moves, but even then, it wasn't like he had any moves that his students could learn. Rasengan? Wasn't that a bit of overkill for a training session?

"Oi, Obito."

The boy looked up as Naruto called him. The blonde, who up until them had seemed perfectly content to lounge in the background, sauntered next to the Uchiha.

The blond grinned. "Why don't you show me what you know?"

For a moment, Obito, uncomprehending, only stared curiously at the older ninja. And then, as he fully understood what Naruto was implying, cheered. Somewhere, between shuffled dirt and dead plants, Rin groaned.

"Watch out, 'cause this ones gonna hurt!"

Naruto grinned widely, acting more like his avid-porn reading Sensei than he'd ever publicly admit—and enjoying every moment of it. If the Uchiha noticed the blonde's light, jovial mood, he certainly didn't show it. In fact, he seemed a bit too preoccupied with his hand seals, a movement which was coming on slowly, but steadily. He still didn't notice, even as Naruto's grin grew more mischievous as their spar progressed. And further still, as he recklessly charged at Naruto in a stubbornness that may quite possibly be inherent in only Uchiha.

And then, his eyes widened.

"Eh?"

And finally, did he look up, surprised and with foreboding horror, to caught the leering smirk on Naruto's face.

"Kawarimi—?

"_One thousand years of pain_!"

Obito yowled as he was sent flying through the air. Minato fell clear of his upturned seat, howling with laughter and smacking the side of the bucket repeatedly, looking like he may just go into cardiac arrest. Rin had dropped her plow in horror, and Kakashi, well, miraculously Kakashi was absolutely unaware of the good use his future technique was made into, and was tediously tending to his plants.

Though perhaps not, as someone made a loud choking noise in the background, and Naruto glanced over to see Kakashi twisting around to stare in incomprehensive wonder as Obito quite literally flew by the seat of his pants.

"That was totally wicked!" Rin cried aloud, loud enough for all of them to hear, regardless of Obito's rather vocal moands of pain.

In a typical Naruto fashion, the blonde only rubbed the back of his head, looking mostly humbled by Rin's obvious—and quite rightly—lionization of him.

For a full three seconds Rin was completely sure that Naruto was the closest thing to a wise and fair god—as no one had yet to so righteously put Obito into his place as the blonde had easily done—this side of the sun, when Obito sprang up with more vigor than usual, flying into his hand sealing process all over again, behind the unsuspecting blonde.

The brunette opened her mouth to warn the blonde, just as Obito opened his.

"Naruto watch—

"_Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"_

Surely the blonde must have realized they were coming, as the fire balls erupted from Obito's throat and seared the already moistened air around them into a fiery blaze, and he had already turned to watch them approach him—turned, and seemed to do little, if anything else.

And then, Rin realized that he _really _wasn't going to do anything else.

"_Naruto!-!"_

But the blonde only seemed to stare them down, before leaping entirely straight through them, as if they had been nothing but an illusion. Rin gaped, nimbly dodging the incoming fireballs as they crashed into the ground, her and Minato having the arduous task of getting around the attack that Naruto already effortlessly dodged. Well actually, he hadn't dodged _at all, _which Rin was still trying to wrap her head around.

She looked up as Obito chortled in awe and laughter, having been tackled to the ground by the surprising blonde, quite clearly down for the count this time. Naruto was grinning down at him, looking quite literally like the cat who got the cream.

After wiping away most of the flyaway—and burnt—hair from the impromptu workout she just got, Rin galloped over to them, beaming. "How did you do that?"

Naruto got up, giving a hand to the startled Uchiha beneath him. "Oh, I dunno, practice I guess."

"So cool!" Obito practically leapt at him as he stood, hopping over the upturned dirt to do so. "You've _got_to teach me that!"

He scratched his cheek, laughing sheepishly. "Ah well… maybe…" But unfortunately for the Uchiha, his unnatural affinity to fire wasn't anything that could be taught.

.

.

.

"Yeah, so, he may have gotten me that time—

"_May _have?" Rin butted in incredulously, grabbing for another piece of sushi.

"Alright, so he did." Obito amended, not even looking winded from his long monologue on his and Naruto's spar—and event which really didn't need retelling, as it had happened a few hours ago—taking a sip of his drink as he did so. "But I'll have you guys know that pretty soon it'll be _me _kicking his ass. I'm going to come with a technique that's not only better than his—it'll be _the best ever_!"

"Even better than Sensei's Rasengan?" Rin quipped.

"Thousands." Obito agreed, quite serious.

Minato looked mostly amused at the blatant disregard for his ultimate technique, only fondly ruffling Obito's hair. He reached for the check before Naruto could even think to, catching the other blonde's smirk with a knowing eye as he moved it out of his read. "This one's on me."

Naruto looked reluctant, but held off. "You're asking to go broke." Said the other blonde, with a shrug.

"This is true." Rin nodded sagely. "It's no secret that Obito can eat ten times his body weight."

"_Two times_." Obito narrowed his eyes. "And that was only once!"

"No—just two weeks ago when we went to Grass you must have consumed at _least _two hundred pounds of rice—

"That's not even physically possible—

The two blondes only let them continue their bantering with an endearing ear, the two of them almost seeming to grow used to the incessant arguing that seemed to inevitably follow when Rin and Obito were in the same room. For a brief second, Naruto thought of how cute of a couple the two could grow to be—the amusing, dear allusion shattered at the thought that neither of the two would ever live to see the day.

_But this is the past, _Naruto reminded himself, with bitter hope. _And that's the future. _

And, for now, neither of the two mattered, because for Naruto, right now, it wasn't either. It was simply… the present.

And then, with desolation,

_But not for long. _

Soon enough, Rin and Obito went their separate ways, Rin to her house and Obito back to the perpetual gloom of the Uchiha district, neither of the two seeming particularly enamored with the thought of returning home from their surprisingly fun day of D-Rank missions. Naruto found himself in a sudden, abrupt silence with Minato, the quite, warm summer night air devoid of continuous noise now that Rin and Obito left.

"That was a pretty cool trick." Minato revealed, as the two plodded along together.

"You think so?" Naruto looked up thoughtfully, thinking of how inspired he'd been when the technique had been used on him—after getting over all the pain, of course.

"Yeah. How'd you come up with it? It's pretty… inventive."

At the apt description of the Jutsu's ingenuity, Naruto laughed. "It definitely is. But I didn't come up with it."

And then, with no small amount of embarrassment, "Actually, the reason why I know it is because it was used on _me _at some point."

"An experience you won't ever forget, I'm sure." Minato chuckled.

"Not in this life time, no." Naruto agreed.

All too soon he was once more standing at another crossroad—though in a more figurative sense, he'd been standing at one for quite a while—as Minato was meant to head back to his home, and Naruto to his hotel, and the inevitable future that lay many years away.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Minato bid cheerily, already moving to the other side of the road.

"Minato—

His breath caught in his throat, in a vicious struggle to erupt out of his mouth. Words wrangled at his tongue, wisdom too dangerous ready to leap from his tongue. For a moment, a startling, clear moment, he imagined himself pulling the blonde aside, this glorious man who would one day save Konoha, and possibly the world, who right now was only a slightly unsure man with a great destiny ahead of himself, and whispering the very tumultuous thoughts that plagued his mind, if only for the selfish notion to get them off of it.

But then the moment passed, the significant widening of Minato's eyes and the easing off of Naruto's tension, and the blonde found himself back at the crossroad, Minato pausing curiously to hear what he had to say.

But the blonde only shook his head, an enigmatic smile to his face.

"Nevermind."

And with that, Minato watched him walk off in the dark, cicadas loud in the night air.

.

.

.

And didn't see him again in almost two years.


	10. Shimmer

_I know there's a lot of confusing things in this story that seem like inconsistencies and don't make much sense, but I swear they're all intended at this point. It'll either be explained in this story or in the companion/sequel story World's End Rhapsody! Also, this is AU and very different from cannon at this point (it was originally published in 08/09) so some things, like the fact that the story is in stasis somewhere between after when Naruto remeets Sasuke and before Gaara gets taken but Naruto is a Jounin and has some amount of control over the Kyuubi are kind of taken as part of that AU._

_So, all will be revealed and/or make sense at some point, I promise, lol. Except for the grammar mistakes. Those are just plan old mistakes._

* * *

"I'm not late, am I?"

Tsunade looked up from the enormous scroll she seemed halfway into, and both Sai and Sakura looked back with paradoxically unanimous unimpressed faces.

He chuckled nervously, sliding in place between his two teammates.

"Back to what I was saying," Tsunade gave him a brutish glare, as if to point out that it was _him _who had cut her off in the first place. "We've noticed growing reports of Otogakure spies encroaching on Konoha territory—"

"You're serious?" Naruto gaped, eyes widening.

Again, he somehow managed to unintentionally cut the blonde Hokage off. "Yes, quite serious." She answered, drily. "Also, Jiraiya has stopped writing porn, Kakashi left for the monastery, and I'm actually paying Shikamaru overtime."

"Funny." Snorted the blonde.

Tsunade gave him a low, narrow glare. "This isn't good, Naruto."

"You don't have to tell me!" Argued the blonde, before turning to his teammates. "You think that was what Sasuke was after?"

"Undoubtedly." Answered Sakura.

Sai gave a noncommittal hum. "So our assumption was right after all."

"You don't have to say it so optimistically." Naruto frowned. "But they have no proof, right?"

"Orochimaru doesn't need proof." Replied Tsunade, looking quite sure of herself. Though most likely she could be, as aside from Jiraiya and the late Sandaime she probably knew the slimy bastard the best. "If he even has an inkling of something he wants, invariably he'll go after it."

"So Naruto's in danger?" Sakura's eyes widened, whipping quickly to study the blonde, who seemed ossified into stone.

"Inadvertently." Tsunade agreed. "Most likely he won't go after it himself."

"It's still a danger." Sakura cut in, obviously fearing for Naruto's safety. Perhaps a little overly so.

Naruto seemed oblivious to the conversation, staring pensively—and a little fearfully—into the lines of wood that made Tsuande's desk, as if they held the answers to his most complex questions.

Naruto snapped out of his reverie as Sakura's voice ascended in decibel.

"And it sounds even worse to me if we don't do anything at all—

"There's no point in retaliating for something that hasn't happened." Tsunade shot back, wisely, "Fortunately for us… there are many places for Naruto to hide which Orochimaru likely won't be able to follow."

At this, his two teammates turned to him curiously.

"Really." Sakura deadpanned, eyes narrowing.

Naruto swallowed.

Tsunade waved her hand. "At any rate, that's up to Naruto's discretion. For now, I'd like you, Sai, to deliver this," She pulled a scroll off the massive heap of paperwork on her desk, "To ANBU." And then, whipping out another one, "And you, Sakura, to bring this to the guards. We're not having another ambush by Otogakure any time soon—everyone's going to be alerted well in advance this time."

The two nodded obediently, though Sakura looked like she'd rather drop-kick Naruto in the face and wrangle out all his secrets. Fortunately, she only turned smartly on her heel and walked out curtly, Sai at her heels.

Tsunade turned to him. "You know what to do."

He nodded, numbly.

This was what he wanted… right? So why did it sort of feel like he was running away?

.

.

X

.

.

He was still musing on this when he landed in the past, so engrossed in his thoughts he found the first pine tree and jumped to the top, dropping onto the branch and staring sightlessly at the looming faces on Hokage Mountain, instead of immediately taking off for Minato and his team.

He wasn't a quitter, and he never gave up—that was his ninja way.

So why in the hell did it feel like he was?

_A strategic retreat isn't the same thing as giving up, _He reminded himself, with a voice which sounded oddly like Kakashi-sensei.

But he'd never been one for strategic retreats; or retreats at all, for that matter. If he ever fell into a situation where he should probably be high tailing it out of, normally he just summoned more Kage Bunshin and did whatever the fuck he could to win.

Although, this wasn't some crazy battle. In fact, there wasn't a battle going on at all. This was waiting, waiting with uneasy trepidation for the moment to start, peering into the abyss of the future and wondering what lay in its depth. Quite honestly it made him uneasy.

He shook his head.

_There's no point on dwelling on it now! _He reminded himself. _I'm already here, _and _it was the hag who told me to do it._

At this, his stomach gave an opportune grumble.

_May as well get some ramen while I'm at it!_

There was nothing like the smell of Ichiraku ramen when he was really, really hungry. It only took a matter of seconds before he was sliding into one of the stools, cracking open a pair of chopsticks, and spewing through a list of orders. Teuchi looked incredibly bewildered with this, much to Naruto's amusement—how long had he been coming here doing this? You'd think the man would be used to it, even in Minato's time.

Speaking of Minato, it was curious to see an Ichiraku without his presence, or at least, his future wife-to-be's. Turns out, Kushina was the _real _ramen lover in the family; she made Minato look like a passing connoisseur. And if not those two, than at least Obito—he was a close second to Kushina, though Naruto had a sinking suspicion he was quickly passing both Minato and Obito in that particular race.

He was entertaining himself so much with the idea he hadn't even gotten a good look at the bewildered Teuchi—a young, teenage boy with an apron a few sizes too big.

In fact, he didn't even notice anything was amiss until he'd finished up his unnaturally large portion of ramen, paid the bill and was perusing languidly through the streets. He stretched, heaving a great, contented yawn and peeled open his eyes—

Only to be met face to face with the Hokage Mountain, looming up in the distance.

It wouldn't have been all that surprising, had Naruto not taken the opportune moment to _really _look at it.

And count how many faces were on it.

_Hold on… _His eyes widened, pausing mid-stretch.

_There's the Shodaime, the Nidaime, the Sandaime… _And then, with growing horror, _Where's the Yondaime?!_

Although Minato wasn't technically the Hokage yet, the moment the Sandaime had revealed his intentions to give up his seat once Minato was ready for the job—which at this point, was rapidly approaching—the village had made quick work of carving out the latest head onto the mountain. They'd made such quick progress that by the time Naruto had even gotten to the past Minato's face was almost half finished, and the last he'd taken the time to look, it was nearing completion.

But now, it wasn't there.

At all.

Naruto numbly sat himself down on the street curb, feeling like his legs were about to give out.

_Calm down. _He told himself, breathing in deeply and hoping like hell he wasn't about to hyperventilate. _Calm the fuck down!_

He had to think through this rationally—which unfortunately, was never one of his strong suits.

_The seal must have fucked up. _Was all he could think. It was the only logical answer. It must have fucked up somehow—but the question was, _how_? It couldn't have been through his time seals, if he'd fucked up on those, either it wouldn't have worked and he wouldn't have jumped through time, or he'd be dead right now because he'd managed to destroy himself in the process. Considering neither of those happened, it must have been a malfunction on his tracking seal.

But if it was a problem with the tracking seal, then he would've been having problems this entire time. And unless the tracking seal had magically disappeared from Minato's time, then—

His eyes widened.

It hadn't disappeared.

It'd been _charred _clean to ashes.

He'd taken to keeping it in his Jounin vest, and wearing it around whenever he was in Minato's time. When it came to leave, he'd strip it off and hide it somewhere safe, and then put it on again whenever he returned. He hadn't even _thought _of the consequences of not dodging Obito's fire technique—fire never hurt him anyway and at the time it seemed like good fun to give Obito a surprise like that.

Now though, it was increasingly seeming like an awful idea.

Because without that tracking seal—

_There was no way back._

.

.

The vivacity he had once assimilated with Konoha and its bright, sunlit streets seemed to have left the city completely—along with the timeline he could no longer find his way back to.

Konoha seemed to have lost its vigor without them, cast in a dull, hazy gloom which Naruto had never experienced before in the Village. Not even when the majority of the people feared or loathed him, had it ever seemed so bleak.

He didn't want to go back—not to his own time, where all his mistakes seemed to linger in the strange attempt of a smile that sometimes graced Sakura's face when she thought he wasn't looking, not to Jiraiya and his narrowed, disapproving gaze, not to Kakashi and his aloof, older self. And yet, he didn't want to be here either. Teuchi was just a teenage boy, not even fifteen yet, running a shambled ramen stand with his father without a hint of recognition to his face. Everyone Naruto knew or cared about had yet to exist. The Second Shinobi War had turned Konoha into something of a ghost town, villagers quick to return to the safety of their homes at dark, huddled close together and murmuring quietly—nothing like the boisterous village Naruto had always known.

Who would be alive now, though? Tsunade and Jiraiya had to be around here somewhere, but the idea of going to look for them didn't hold much weight.

He tried to think how old they would be…Jiraiya would be in his twenties, so would Tsunade…and Orochimaru.

Naruto wasn't sure how long he sat on that curb—staring bleakly at nothing, probably blending quite aptly with the dull Konoha around him. He tried, and failed, to keep the images of Team Seven out of his mind, looping infinitely in his mind; every precious moment that ended so abruptly—until he was forcefully snapped out of it.

"Uhm…excuse me."

He jumped. Literally.

He blinked, the dimness of his eyes slowly coming back to life as he looked down and a little to the left to see who was talking to him.

His jaw dropped.

A boy was peering up at him curiously from where he had seated himself next to Naruto, a ways shorter than him and looking somewhat bemused by the funny faces Naruto was making.

It was like him when he was younger. Except the boy was a tad paler, in fact, he could use a little more sun judging from the smooth cream color of his skin; it almost reminded him of the Uchiha pale that Sasuke had. But he was blond, blond like the sun and goldenrod and saffron flowers. Blond like sun-kissed hair. And most importantly, blond like him. With that soft color that was not a true golden, but not platinum. Flaxen almost, it was a shade paler than his own mop of sunshine that was on top of his head.

But what caught his attention the most was—

"Are you okay?"

—the blue of his eyes.

Like the stratosphere in the bright early morning, like a cloudless summer sky somewhere where everything was beautiful, this glowing blue that Naruto couldn't explain as anything else as just an absolute mirror of his own.

Naruto slowly fished himself out of his thoughts. "Uh… fine. I guess you startled me a bit. Why?"

"You've been sitting on the road for a really long time now." The boy pointed out. "The owner of this shop asked me to kick you out."

"Eh…" He turned around, suddenly noticing a rather angry looking shopkeeper holding a broom rather menacingly from his stoop. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "That's true."

The younger blond—who Naruto was very happy to say barely even came up to his waist (take that Jiraiya! There _were _people smaller than him, albeit the boy must have been ten)—blinked at him slowly, almost owlishly. Naruto found himself staring again. The beautiful autumn sky brought out the Prussian in both their eyes. Naruto new he'd curse this question forever, but looking in their eyes he knew he had to—

"So what's your name kid?"

The boy blinked quickly, it seemed he was caught off guard. "Uh, I'm Namikaze Minato, what's your name?"

Naruto almost lost consciousness.

He knew it. It may have been just a hunch that had launched with the identical eyes they shared, but for some reason, he knew it, he had just _known _it. This boy was Minato, about roughly fifteen years younger than the one he had met before, but still, this boy was his father. His father who was about the coolest man he had ever met in his life.

"Naruto, my name's Naruto."

"Cool!" The boy brightened.

Naruto grinned at him, but soon the sharpness of it faded into something softer, wistful, even, as he soaked in the last bit of Minato he'd ever get to see. He supposed he should be grateful, even, that he'd gotten a chance to see him at all.

It wasn't so bad, even, the blonde consoled himself, staring down at Minato, the blonde grinning outrageously, smiling ear to ear.

"Oh wait." The boy blinked. "Isn't that the swirly stuff in ramen?"

Naruto balked, but regained his composure quickly. "Uh yeah, I guess it is. I'm named after a guy in a book though."

"A book?" The boy blinked. Before he doubled over laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard!"

Naruto wanted to point out that Minato was the one who named him in the first place, but he refrained from doing so. "Huh, what are you named after?"

Minato shrugged, his little shoulders almost looking bony under his shirt. "Um…I dunno. Never knew my parents."

Naruto's eyes softened as he watched him. People always told Naruto that he really, well and truly took after his mother—he was loud and obnoxious and stubborn and loved ramen—but perhaps that was only because you really had to _know _Minato to see how similar they were, and Minato wasn't quick to let people see that far into him.

Looking at him now, though, the slump of his shoulders and his downcast eyes, all Naruto could see was _himself. _The helplessness he felt as a child, the sadness and the confusion. He was once again enthralled and intrigued by the same sea glass eyes they had—how could anyone say he took after his mother after looking at those eyes? Except now, those eyes were glazed over in sadness, hopelessness, and lost emotions twisted away with the fading of his memories. Naruto looked down at him empathetically; he never knew Minato didn't know his parents either. It almost made him feel bad that he ever hated the man for what he had done.

He smiled, softly but genuinely. "Yeah I know what you mean, I never knew mine either."

"Really?" Minato blinked, looking up.

Naruto nodded. "Yup. My mom and dad died saving the village." _And subsequently, sealing a tailed beast inside me._

"That's really sad." The younger flaxen-haired boy sighed. "The world is sad."

The boy kicked a pebble with his foot, watching the small gray colored rock skid across the pavement, bouncing off the sidewalk and tumbling around until it met the road. Somewhere in the distance, a man was bartering around for some paper fans, the street wasn't very long, or very crowded.

"Maybe, maybe not." Naruto grinned. "You know, I might not have known them, but I've found people that I relate to like that. You know what I mean? You don't really need a family when you have really great friends."

"Oh I know what you mean!" Minato brightened. "Hey, you wanna get some ramen?"

The Uzumaki boy—well man technically—could have fallen over in the sheer irony of this moment. "Yeah…sure."

He let himself be dragged over to Ichiraku's once more—the teenage Teuchi no longer present but a stern man instead—Minato seating himself comfortably onto one of the stools, Naruto following suit with significantly less vigor. He'd already ate his full, but there was no such thing as _too _much ramen, and the majority of the people he knew were convinced his stomach held a small pocket universe specifically for the consumption of ramen, so Naruto had no qualms with ordering again.

"One Miso ramen please." They both said in unison.

They looked at each other, stunned, before Minato burst into laughter. "Y-You like Miso ramen too?"

Naruto, who was used to these odd flukes he had with his father-to-be only laughed as well. "It's my favorite." He said, his good mood fading as he thought of a similar instance he'd had involving his father and their love of ramen flavors.

Minato seemed to pick up on the undertone in his voice, and slowly stopped laughing. "So…where are you from, Naruto-san?" He asked, with such a tactful change of subject for a kid his age Naruto suddenly remembered _why _they called him a genius.

Naruto tapped his hitai-ate with his chopsticks lightly, and Minato rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Right…" He grinned. "Forgot about that. So what rank are you?"

"Jounin, you?" He might as well not lie about it, he was sure there were enough Jounin that it didn't matter anyways.

"Gennin!" The boy grinned brightly. "I'm almost Chuunin…and since the exams are coming up in a week or two and Jiraiya-sensei is going to teach me some ultra cool moves so I can win!"

"Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto echoed. It had been a long, long time since he had called Jiraiya that.

Minato nodded. "Yeah! He's my really cool sensei. He's…kinda a pervert though, but," He leaned in closer with a harsh whisper. "They call him and his team Sannin! Isn't that cool? I wish _my _team had some cool nickname like that—" He got up abruptly, pitching his voice low as he cried, "_Team Minato, feared from the coast of Iwagakure to the far flung regions of Kiri!"_

Naruto chortled in laughter. "They don't _actually _say outlandish shit like that about the Sannin, do they?" If they did, he'd never heard it at least.

"No." Minato pouted, before brightening again. "But if my team ever got famous, I'd want them to say stuff like that about me!"

_Oh, you'll get there… _He thought, ominously. He'd get there, alright, and it'd get so bad that he'd have to start fearing for his family and his wife because of his reputation. But for now, it was just a childish dream, and there was no reason to scare him.

"Yeah?" He played along cheerily, "I'm sure you will someday!"

And then, he added, "So, these Sannin, huh? They're pretty legendary?"

"Yeah! They're _super _legendary! Let's see, there's Orochimaru-san and Tsunade-hime and Jiraiya-sensei." He paused, before adding, "I think Tsunade-hime is still Chuunin though, and I'm pretty sure Orochimaru-san just turned Jounin. Jiraiya-sensei just got inaugurated too!"

"Is that so?" Lucky for him, he got the timeline without even having to ask around for it.

Two steaming bowls of Miso ramen were placed in front of them, and the cook smiled at them indulgently. Minato grinned widely, in a way that made Naruto remember the way he used to when he was much younger and him and Iruka-sensei used to go out for ramen, except this time, the roles were switched. He was the older of the two who was reminiscing and Minato was the one who was grinning widely and chattering on. It made his heart thrum, remembering the Minato he would never see again…the one he was going to help defeat Kyuubi…

Watching the boy in front of him, Naruto wondered if Neji was right. Was there such a thing called fate?

Did this boy have the fate to die as a hero?

He was about to follow suit and dig into his ramen when a voice stopped him from doing so.

"Oi, Minato-kun, keep eating like that and you're gonna empty this man's pockets!"

Minato laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Planning to fob the bill on me, huh?" Naruto smirked widely, as he handed the money to the cook anyways. "S'okay, I figured I would treat you anyways."

But as he looked up, he tried not to gape.

Jiraiya—who looked like a bit younger version of the one he knew—was smiling, hands on his hips like he was about to start a serious lecture as he rattled on to Minato about how that was a rather bad thing to do. Hypocrite, Naruto snorted, Jiraiya fobbed the bill on him _all _the time in the future, to the point that Naruto could have claimed bankruptcy.

"Honestly Minato, you little prankster—

"Oh, its okay." Naruto smiled pleasantly at his sensei to-be. "Minato helped me out anyways, so I thought it'd be fair to treat him."

"You'd be asking to go broke, right there." Jiraiya snorted, and Minato let out an indignant shout.

Naruto smiled, but there was something melancholic to the edges of it. "Ah well…I'd better get going, I have to turn in a mission report. See you guys around some time?"

The two grinned at him.

"Sure!" The said in unison, then turned to look at each other, already erupting in a new dispute about who was the original one and who was the word stealer.

Naruto would have laughed at their replica of Obito and Kakashi's antics, except for the fact that it hurt to even remember the fact that Obito and Kakashi would never have another spat like that in front of him, because he'd never be able to see one again. In fact, as his subconscious snidely reminded him, he wouldn't see Rin either, or Kushina, or his father—which was probably what hurt the most, because the Minato he had just encountered was not the one he was hoping to see.

He scuffed his feet in the dirt, watching as the last bits of light scattered over the horizon.

He might as well go home, have some ramen with Sakura, and maybe get an actual mission from the old hag, get back in the swing of things. Maybe he'd talk with Kakashi-sensei, because he honestly needed someone to talk to about this besides Jiraiya, but he wasn't entirely sure that was allowed. In all honesty, he wished he could talk to Sasuke, but Sasuke was out in Sound still with that pathetic excuse for a Sannin and probably wouldn't care to listen anyways. And more importantly, he was Sasuke. The bastard.

Maybe Shikamaru would listen… Rin listened a lot like Shikamaru—

Ugh.

Dammit he was thinking in circles again.

He could have slapped himself if he could.

Why did he keep thinking about them? He was never going to be able to forget them at this rate. They probably already forgot him—…he blinked back tears. Would they forget about him? Would they no longer think about him after a week or two that he was gone? He knew for a fact that Kakashi of his time was either an extremely good actor or he only remembered bits and pieces of the Naruto that had visited him back when he was Chuunin. Well, Naruto wouldn't hold it against him; the boy was only about nine or ten when they met in the past—not to mention the fact he always seemed to get sick at the most inopportune of times.

Would Minato name his first born child Naruto because of Jiraiya's book? Or because of the man he had met for a month or two while he was in the tumultuous process of becoming the Yondaime Hokage? Would Obito remember him—even though Naruto had the sinking suspicion that Obito would be long gone, if Kakashi's left eye was anything to go by—? Would Rin even remember him? Wherever she was in his time line, whether she was dead or just wandering around in the same way Tsunade was?

As the last outstretched hand of peach spread over the mountains, the sun finally succumbing to the darkness of the moon, Naruto finished his seal.

He didn't notice the tear that made his way down his face—rather, if he did, he chose to ignore it.

.

.

X

.

.

Naruto had a moment to lie there in the deafening silence of the hill, nothing but the faint whisper of wind and the occasional rustling of the forest to break the heady quiet, before his eyes snapped open.

He drew kunai from his pocket at lightening speed, throwing them out into the trees where they hit the branches and trunks with dull thuds.

Immediately after he leapt into the air, to put some distance between him and his attacker as well as dodging the spray of shuriken that landed where he once lay.

The blond flipped in midair, landing soundlessly on his feet in a crouch, weapons drawn and waiting for his attacker to reveal himself.

Turns out there was more than one, four figures dropping from the trees to the ground opposite the hill, and from here he could vaguely make out their defining features. One was obviously a girl, with blatant and fiery red hair, another with even _more _blatant and fiery _orange _hair, a shade of which reminded him grossly of his former jumpsuit, and another with faintly gray-silver hair and the last…

With dark black hair, almost blue in the current lighting, and spinning red eyes.

"_Sasuke_." He whispered, thrown for a loop.

As if he hadn't already gone through enough of an emotional rollercoaster these past twenty-four hours to have him running to the nearest bathroom to throw up all he's ate in his lifetime, his former _best friend, _and the meaning to his life for the past three years just had to show up now, of all inopportune moments.

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He called, to the boy whom he once thought of as his brother.

The Uchiha said nothing though, his teammate speaking for him.

"Was it really him who's been causing all these chakra surges?" The only female asked the Uchiha, incredulously. Half her hair was matted and wrangled looking, while the other was pin straight. Had she been here, Sakura would have called that, a 'fashion _don't_'.

"This kid?" The one with silver hair balked, eying up the blonde. "I'd be surprised if he could hold a kunai right."

Naruto growled, about to show them just how well he threw kunai when Sasuke lifted a hand, and his teammates immediately quieted.

"Underestimating him will be your downfall." Sasuke warned. Huh, so he'd actually learned something noteworthy these past few years after all. "Furthermore, we're to capture him—_alive."_

_Capture? _Unease crawled up his spine at what the word entailed. What did Orochimaru want with _him_? Whatever it was, it could be nothing good.

He didn't voice his fear aloud, only chuckling. "_Capture_?" He echoed, mockingly. "What, so Orochimaru's got you on retrieval missions now? That's gennin duty, _Sasuke_." He spit the name out with as much contempt as he could muster.

"Gennin duty?" The girl pitched, somewhat obnoxiously with her loud, high voice. "Please, this isn't your _average _retrieval duty. Orochimaru-sama has us working to—

"Karin." Sasuke cut her off swiftly, eyes never once leaving Naruto. "He's baiting you."

And then, "And you're falling for it."

She flushed, but shut her mouth.

"Is that all you guys are here for?" He tossed back. "Bickering and acting like children? Because if so, I was kinda in the middle of something and would really like to get back to it."

Then Sasuke tilted his head, turning to him and surveying him coolly. "Finally stopped chasing after me then, _dobe_?" He threw the word—that at one point could even be considered a backwards term of endearment—out like it was trash. Naruto couldn't tell anything from his expression.

_Never._

But he swallowed the bile in his throat and lifted his chin. "Maybe I realized there were better things to waste my time on."

There was _something _there then, a flicker in those Sharingan. But Naruto couldn't be sure if it was anger at the insult or something more…

Naruto cursed inwardly though. There was only so much time he could waste riling them up. And Sasuke had already blocked his only way of getting information. The girl had seemed his best way to gather more information, too. He was in the dark here, and he didn't like it.

There wasn't anything in the world he could think of that he'd rather _not _do right now than fight through Sasuke and his new ragtag team of fucked up weirdoes, and once more it seemed his best bet would be for a 'strategic retreat'.

And god how he was starting to hate that phrase—it was really starting to define his life.

There was little else he could do, though, so without another moment of waste he summoned as much of Kyuubi's power as he could, drawing it forth from the seal and probably waking up the demon in the process.

It pulled and wrenched out of him until finally it erupted from the seal, a vesuvian explosion of red-hot heat taking shape in a long, almost incomprehensibly tall pillar of magma-like fire, looming above them all and flickering in the sky.

Juugo and Karin charged first, the other two lingering in the backdrop.

At first, it looked like their vision had been blacked out by a Genjutsu technique, but, once the fiery sensation of being burned at temperatures worthy of volcanic lava receded, they realized that this was _not _Genjutsu. The fire was almost like a ring surrounding Naruto, hot and the color of red ocher, dancing with delight and lapping at grass and flesh alike. The two jumped back, holding their burnt appendages and the entire group fled out of the circle.

As the circle of fire moved, they realized that it was a large tail of burning fire, flickering about at Naruto's will.

_The fox_, Sasuke realized, _Naruto had called out the fox._

He was _controlling _the fox_._

On his own.

"What kind of kekkai genkai is this?" Bemused the one with silver hair, looking far too excited at the prospect than he should be.

"What does it matter?" The red-headed girl retorted, shaking out her left hand—which was licked raw with burns—and drawing weapons. "We'll take him down either way!"

The silver-haired boy ran through seals rapidly as the girl sprinted forward unleashing a barrage of shuriken and kunai alike. The blonde dodged them easily enough, and what he didn't the large tail would swoop down, blocking for him and melting the metal into cooling drops of liquid on the ground.

The girl backed off, cursing in annoyance. "Damn, that's pretty hot!"

"Probably not hot enough." The boy smirked.

Sasuke turned to his silver-haired companion. "Don't. That's the—"

But he had already finished up his hand seals, bellowing, "_Suiton: Suishousha!"_

A wall of water erupted from the Suiton user, barreling straight into the large column of fire surrounding Naruto. Karin wooped at the hit, about to congratulate her teammate when the sound of hissing steam met her ears. A fine clout of mist covered the blonde for a few moments, before the red of the fiery tale swept forward, revealing that the water Jutsu hadn't done much of anything.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune." He finished.

His team turned to him, looking towards him with varying degrees of shock and apprehension.

His face was impassive as always, the pinched, almost bored expression seeming to be ossified from stone into his facial features, but it still looked like it pained him to say the words," We'll retreat for now; we cant beat him like this."

They took off soon after that, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

The tail dispersed into wisps of flame, before eventually taking to the air in tendrils of smoke.

He stared back into the forest where his best friend had once more disappeared to, and wondered at the numbness, the lack of emotion, which felt cold and unnatural in his stomach.

_BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK_

Naruto wanted to try it. He wanted to try it…(as he forgot about the tears that dried on his cheeks) because he wanted to just see where it would end up.

Actually, as far as those things concern, he wasn't really doing this for any sort of self indulgence—maybe he was, just not on a conscious level—he just needed to try it again, as an experiment, as a trial, just like it was supposed to be. And, while with one arm he carefully smoothed the ink brush over the glossy papyrus paper (the shop had, sadly, run out of rice paper in size 10x15, so he had to use the papyrus paper) and with the other he wiped his eyes, so that his tears wouldn't drip onto the paper. He sniffed, and told himself he hadn't, mainly because if he realized how upset he was over this, then he'd realize how depressed he had become too.

Somewhere, between the fluttering wind that carried his emotions, and the dripping water, a beast opened its eyes slowly.

Ram…Dragon…Tiger—

The heavens rumbled and the earth quaked, and then the flash of blue was gone, and the hill had yet another crumpling paper on its side.

.

.

X

.

.

It was raining, wherever he had landed, it was raining in sheets and torrents, and it soaked his black and orange jacket all the way through, the black undershirt clinging to his lean torso and soaking his skin. His hair dulled with the lack of sunlight, a faded saffron that matched his somber mood. His eyes didn't bother to leave the wet dew grass that it was watching dully, his rainy eyes a melancholy blue. He didn't bother…what was the point anymore? What was the point in anything? What was the reason that he even bothered to get up in the morning when everything had been stripped of him the moment he had been born, and from then on he had to climb with blood-wrenched hands and scars, the lifestyle of someone who never had a chance.

The rain was soft, a pitter patter and the faint rustle of trees in the wind.

He wondered where he was…?

But, he didn't bother—couldn't bother—and he trudged through the forestry and down the muddy grass, a small current of water passing by the wet verdant blades. His feet moved in slow patterns, soft and barely even noticeable, he moved so slowly it didn't look like he was moving at all. His face turned to the ground, watching the current move around his feet, puddles forming in some places and the dirt started to upturn itself. The water splashed as he moved about, but it was raining so hard and fast it seemed it'd never end.

With his conscious a broken mess of emotions and heart, his subconscious was the one to smell the ramen from somewhere along the water laden street.

He moved on his body's own accord, his eyes never leaving the asphalt, as the water ran like mice scurrying around, flooding the sewers and soaking everything to the chill bone. He didn't notice, eyes dull and lifeless and his mind so caught up in contemplating why the _hell _he was even here to really do anything. For all he knew, he could have been in the desolate regions of Iwa, in the middle of the war with a Konoha headband, and he wouldn't have cared.

At this point, he wouldn't have cared for anything.

Without knowing it, without seeing or hearing or smelling—he sat down and sank slowly into the old leather of the stool, his form dripping like its very own rain shower, the dripping of his jacket going as fast as the pitter patter of the storm on the other side. He was yet to realize where he was, wondering about more pressing matters, about why he was feeling like this, and how to forget…

"Can I get you something?"

Naruto said nothing, not even breaking out of his stupor.

"Sir…?"

"Just a Miso ramen." He hadn't even realized he had said anything, so used to sliding into Ichiraku with stools like these that he hadn't noticed where he was, or where he could have been.

"Okay, coming right up!"

"Huh?" Naruto started dumbly, finally pulling himself out of his depression-induced stupor to realize he had just said something.

The man looked at him strangely. "Miso ramen, right?"

"Oh…sure." Naruto agreed, wondering distantly how he had even said something without even remembering. He didn't even remember walking over here. Was he that in thought…?

The man behind the counter nodded, but Naruto wasn't really paying attention to him, in fact, he wasn't really paying attention at all.

Naruto realized—belatedly—that he really…didn't know what to do anymore.

_._

_._

He didn't have to wait very long, though.


	11. Fake Wings

_This starts with a lot of Rin and Naruto. No, they really aren't a couple here, and there's nothing going on here. If there is, it's one-side and so miniscule it's not worth mentioning. Maybe I'll post a different version of this story of LJ and have a love triangle with Rin and Sakura in it, but not this version. And yes! I know I'm making Kakashi miss practically everything but that's because I need his memory to be fogging and faulty and clouded by Obito's death so he doesn't remember much._

_And if Obito died before Minato was Hokage, Kishimito can suck my-well nevermind. This is fan fiction, AU is a given, but I know it's annoying when you don't know it's SUPPOSED to be different. _

* * *

His ramen steamed in small wafts, cooling quickly against the rain and buffeting wetly against his face. With rainy eyes that matched the scenery, he felt that his appetite had long since diminished in the midst of his onslaught of depression. Sadly, it took him a while to even realize to call it such. When Sakura had pointed out with that melancholy look that formed over her gummy pink lips that he had stopped smiling for a while now, he didn't exactly know what to tell her.

Because, for Sakura, everything was in black and white, with gray undertones and that, was that.

And it wasn't her fault, Naruto mused as he used his chopsticks to pick up the noodles. Bad things don't happen to Sakura, bad things happen to people around Sakura, and then by a chain of events she gets affected. To that end, Naruto would never want Sakura to have any bad fortune bestowed upon her at all, but there were kinds of pain that could only be understood by personal experience. Loneliness was one of them, dark and inky in its blackness, coiling around his very eyes and frothing against his feet. The pain of true, extreme loneliness.

And suddenly, just as sharp as the stab of pain that had washed over him, did he hear the sound of a bowl braking next to him.

He heard it the same time he felt it.

Vaguely he would remember the sound of the ramen chef placing the bowl next to his fellow rain soaked companion, and it was the only warning he had ever received. However, if he only remembered the warning some four months later than it wasn't really a warning, was it?

But, nevertheless, the hot liquid splattered his bare legs like liquid fire, and if he hadn't had the life of a shinobi, he may have been on the ground in pain. But he had, and he placidly looked down at his feet in the dim haze of simple mindedness and hadn't noticed the spring of pain that came along with the hot broth that pooled around his feet.

If things had been different—or maybe a different person—Naruto would have turned back to his food, but that wasn't the case.

"What…"

The voice was one of the most heart-wrenching he had every heard in its simple and soft agony, so small and tiny and broken that it hurt to ever hear it, rasping barely over the clatter of the rain on the other side of the stall.

"The hell."

Even with the curse, the voice didn't change pitch.

Naruto looked up, startled, to meet his own rainy blue eyes to hazelnut brown ones.

"Naruto." His name carried a bitter undertone in her voice.

His eyes widened.

She looked the same.

"Rin…"

Her brown hair was mussed and dripping a little at the bottoms where it hadn't quiet dried and the small droplets of water looked crystallized as they dropped and scattered to the floor. The bandages on her cheeks were ripped a little near the seam that met her cheek, and the edges were beginning to brown. Her cheeks weren't as plump as they had been, coloring with tinged pink as she breathed in faster, and her lips were round and gummy, the way he remembered Sakura's looked when she got upset at him.

For an instance, he was about to brighten into a smile when her storming eyes stopped him abruptly.

"How dare you." She hissed. "Where the hell have you been for the last _two years_?!" She shrieked.

"Rin I—

"No you listen to _me_. Where the _hell_ have you been for the last two fucking years, huh?! You don't just—just disappear like that. Ever. You can't just abandon your friends and think that it'll be alright, think that we won't care. Do you have any idea how terrible it was when we suddenly woke up and you were gone? Like you had disappeared off into the distance and we had no idea where you were, when you would come back—_if_you ever were coming back—and did you have any idea how much it _hurt_?!"

Her breath rattled in her chest, and in the wake of her screaming the ramen chef and Naruto both were stilled.

"It hurt a lot." Her voice dropped back into that whisper-quality, shoulders shaking uncontrollably and her lip quivering ever so slightly. "You have no idea though. It hurt because we _trusted_you and _believed_in you and where did it land us?"

Her bitter voice trailed off until the pitter patter of the rain had drowned over them in large watery eddies like a grave on the sea, with nothing more than a sprinkled light passing from the depths above them.

Rin's breath heaved in her chest, bursting into her lungs and this fiery and painful sensation was welling up from somewhere inside her and it _hurt_.

"Say something…god dammit!" She yelled at him, swiping the chopsticks that lay unused on the counter, and throwing them at him.

Naruto had nothing to say in his defense, not bothering to even dodge the flying eating utensils, nothing that could possibly justify his actions to the girl—no the woman, she was most definitely a woman now—that stood before him, with an open grieving heart that was breaking in front of him.

But the emotional stress was getting to him.

Slowly, he put his head in his hands that were rested on his knees, shaking his head and the gloomy ashen color of the storming sky made his sunshine hair look flaxen, and almost dull.

"I'm so sorry, Rin." He sighed at last, sounding just as broken as the woman before him. "I really am. If I could have told you—told any of you—I would have in an instant."

Rin froze so suddenly, that Naruto was tempted to look up. The moment that she pulled her hand back as inconspicuous as possible to did he realize what she was reaching for, and decided it would be better not to alert that he knew she was holding a kunai behind her back. She must have been upper Chuunin now, maybe even special Jounin, regarding her stealth. But she had a while to go before she could fool him.

"What," She started slowly. "Do you mean by that?"

He paused.

This was going to mean everything.

No…

This was everything right here.

This decided his very future, his very fate that he now cradled in his hands so gently. His next answer was going to decide whether he would leave this time period, and never return more out of necessity then of his own true decision. He would never see Obito, and Rin, and Kakashi, and Minato every again (although, it didn't seem like right now he'd be able to spend time with them the way he had before, considering their opinion of him now) and he'd have to return to his own, very sullen, and very saddening time period.

And as he watched Rin's face—she was all grown up now, with sculpted cheek bones that no longer resembled a cute child, with a pointed chin and dark eyes and look at her, even ready to draw a kunai against him—he new that there were only two options that laid out with him right now.

He could feel her tense as the seconds passed by, and could watch her shoulder still and the muscles tighten ever so slightly through the saffron fringe of his bangs.

He could feel the small shaking that the thousands of torrents of rain caused upon Konoha's soil, trembling in the sheer power of so many sheets of droplets hailing down on it that it was overpowering, and he could hear it begin to slow its erratic tempo, the rhythm slowing and the clouds lazily moving on.

He took a deep breath.

"Everything, Rin."

She blinked.

The muscles that had tensed in her arm relaxed a bit, but not my much.

"What do you mean?" She echoed herself, cautiously.

"I never told you guys anything." He began in a quiet voice that matched the hushed tones that she had set. "Ever. Nothing was true, well the useless things, but I never truly told you anything about myself that was true. You see, I couldn't. I can't still."

And just as quickly, did the shoulder pull itself forward and the glint of steel flickered off the shiny edges of the stools—

"But I can tell you right now that I'm not here to do anything harmful to Konoha. Never. I swear it."

"What good is a liar's word?" She shot back scathingly.

His eyes met hers. And once again, just like when they first met, she was pulled into the swirl of perfect blue that centered on his iris. It was nothing but pigmentation; she had to remind herself, nothing but good genes and lots of ancestors with pretty eyes. But there was something about the way his eyes glowed so dimly with the rainy clouds and how they were so deeply ingrained with a swirl of the sky, that they looked nothing like the scientific explanation of them, but as if they were actual windows into the soul.

He was an interesting person, this Naruto. With his intricacies and his quirks and the way he let you finish his sentence that way he didn't give anything away, or the way he made the most utter blasphemy of excuses and there was no way they were real, but he said those to keep you captivated with their humorous input so that the real answer was never questioned. He was full of lies, just a web that spun around wildly and there was no such thing as 'truth'.

But she was curious.

Curiouser and curiouser…

"Then prove it." She said suddenly, interrupting both their thoughts.

Naruto thought for a moment.

How to prove that he wasn't lying, when in truth, there was nothing that he could tell them without telling them the truth? Times like this he wished he was Kakashi—the older, conniving version—because Kakashi always knew how to say the truth without actually saying the _truth_. If that made any sense at all.

"Let's find everyone." He said finally. "And I'll tell you all."

She blinked at him in suspicion, but said nothing else.

"Alright." She nodded, pulling the kunai into her pouch again, but not too far, she didn't know when she'd need it again… "I'll take you to Hokage tower."

"Hokage, huh?" Naruto smiled somewhat whimsically. "The old man finally stepped down, huh?"

"Minato's been Hokage for almost a year now," Rin started cynically. "But you didn't know that, did you?"

"Actually I did." Naruto quipped. "April Seventeenth, with his address to the people. A bit like his inauguration."

If Rin was surprised at all, she held it back well; the only sign was the small downward quirk of her lips.

"You're well read." She shot him a look as they walked. "Did your spies tell you that?"

He rolled his eyes, hands in his pockets. "No, _everyone_knows, it wasn't exactly a secret."

Rin growled low in her throat.

A bit put off—maybe because it was true and she had been bested, because everyone _did_know—Rin didn't say anything in defense, opting to watch the stores they passed in the rain that had turned to a light drizzle.

"And how's he doing?" Naruto asked softly, more out of conversation than out of curiosity, because he already knew. This had to be almost one more year now at best until Kyuubi attacked…

"Fine." Her tone was clipped. "He's been busying himself as Hokage, Obito and I are Chuunin, and Kakashi is a Jounin. We still go on missions with him though. But we hardly see each other as much since…

She trailed off slowly, eyes moving over to him in a meaning subtlety that wasn't lost on him.

"I'm sorry." He said again. "And I promise to explain it once we get to everyone."

Rin nodded slowly, as if not convinced of that. But maybe, she wasn't convinced that this was real at all. She had dreamt of meeting Naruto again—they all had, especially in those terrible months after he left—and after a while, she had begun to wonder if maybe they had dreamed it, maybe it never happened. No one knew anything about Naruto, his description didn't fit with anyone in other villages, and his similarity to Minato and his blood record in the hospital were the only tangible threads of him.

"You shouldn't apologize to me." Rin snarled quietly. "You should apologize to Obito."

Until now, that is, as said man that had haunted them for two years pattered along sullenly with her. And the way her team was affected by it—how Obito was affected by it—made her heart clench. Just remembering that pain that still had left a long and jagged scar over her heart hurt to reminisce about.

Rin squeezed her eyes shut.

The more she thought like that, the more she realized that she was really, really hoping that this wasn't a dream.

"I know." He agreed, eyes soft. "I will."

And that she was really hoping that this was the right decision, that her personal emotions weren't going to danger her country because of a possible threat right next to her—

She took a deep breath, and made sure that Naruto couldn't read her face, even though the man next to her made no such glance. She wanted to believe that Naruto wasn't a threat; she wanted to believe that what he had been when she and her team had traveled with him—befriended him—that this was that same man that he was then. Or maybe, that was nothing but a figment of his personality and his job and now the truth would emerge (or would it? How could they know for sure) and it was beginning to make her shoulders tense in anxiety.

Naruto, even with his lax and flippant posture and his relaxed shoulders that smoothed out over planes of compact lean muscles that ended in his pocketed hands, was just as tense as she was.

For different reasons.

He didn't know what to say…but he had already made up his mind, consequences of his actions be damned. He would have been perfectly fine in telling them his whole story except for the weight of such a calamity would then be transferred to them, and the entirety of the future may be so different when he returned—or maybe there wouldn't be a future at all? Unlike Rin, he wasn't worrying for his countries safety. He was worrying for the _world's_safety. The cons and pros were weighing themselves in his mind, throwing in his personal feelings as much as he was trying to keep them out of the scale. And his brain was so overloaded he didn't even know where they were going.

Rin looked over to his stony face cautiously.

She remembered a flash of the red demonic eyes she had seen before, and her doubts, if possible, increased.

Little did she know she wasn't the only one who became scared when Naruto was in deep thought, and looked so…cold.

"Naruto?" She was tempted to put a demeaning suffix at the end of his name, but decided against it.

He blinked at her laconically, as if waking from sleep.

It was as if he was drinking in what he had been looking at for the past few seconds now for the first time, taking in the looming Hokage tower in front of them and the steps that were now at his feet.

"Yeah." He began to walk up the steps, and she followed slowly.

.

.

.

When they entered, Minato had dropped his pen that he had been holding between his lips, carrying a rather large and copious amount of papers and transferring to the pile that was probably the signed ones, and the papers had scattered to the floor in a mess of white, like feathers falling from a bird. The window had been opened, the wind billowing in softly and the papers went flying everywhere, like a whirlwind of sallow that dusted over the room in its papery mess. It was going to be a real hassle to clean once this entire mess was sorted out, because that was a lot of paper.

But when the identical blue eyes met, Minato was left to gape in shock.

Rin had expected such a reaction, but still had flinched subtly.

Naruto knew that when this was all over, he would look back at this and laugh.

"N-Naruto…" The Hokage said the world gradually, almost skeptically.

Naruto waved with a placid smile on his face, a bit melancholy. "Hi."

"We're waiting for Kakashi and Obito to get here, Sensei." Rin butted in coldly, not to her teacher but more to Naruto. "So that way he can explain to us." She added, as if to jeer.

"Alright." Minato said slowly, watching Naruto with those same, cobalt eyes.

Obviously distrust was something in the bargain here, but there was something very, very off about Naruto.

And it wasn't just because the man had been missing for two years and suddenly he had appeared again like it was completely expected of him, even waving and saying hello in greeting and appearing with Rin at his side (although something told Minato that was because he was nervous more than anything). That was odd and reason enough to think that something was off with Naruto, however, he somehow overlooked that and was actually noticing something altogether very different.

It was because of the way he looked.

He couldn't have been a day older than what he had looked like two years ago.

Same slightly chiseled jaw, and the cheek bones that were set high and protruded a bit to round his eyes out more. Those same cheeks still had three whisker fine scars on them, matching and made him look a bit like a fox. Even his outfit was the same. He had the same black and orange jacket, and black cargo Shinobi pants with the standard sandals and the fingerless gloves, although his shirt had changed. He hadn't grown at all, and his hair was the exact same length down to perfection as it had been in his memories. His eyes were still clear and blue, although no longer shrouded in the mirth they had been (it reminded him of the way grandparents looked at younger generations).

And that was enough to be suspicious of him, whether he went missing for two years or not.

They stood in silence, the paper fluttering between them with the shifting wind and Rin fidgeting nervously in the backdrop of constantly moving white.

"You got the position finally, huh?" Naruto smiled weakly, looking around the room at the way Minato had furnished it, noticing it looked a bit like the way it would when Tsunade was done with it.

A tad messy with the papers fluttering about, and looked like the way it had when Konohamaru had boarded himself up in here. Wooden panels for flooring and a wooden desk with the word for Hokage on it, and open windows that reminded him of the way Jiraiya used to hop through them and Tsunade used to yell at him for it.

Minato watched him closely, and it was different from the way Rin did, it made him nervous. "Yeah. Nice job. Not worth the paperwork though."

Naruto was surprised that Minato was willing to make small talk with him, although come to think of it, it did seem in his nature.

"So I've heard." Naruto said pleasantly back, and wasn't prepared for the harsh statement that retorted him.

"From your _own_ countries' Kage?" Minato had rebutted sharply.

Naruto sent him a laconic smile. "My Kage sat on the exact same chair you did, Minato."

Apparently the 'spy' theme was rather common explanation for his disappearance.

"Don't call me that." Minato bristled, and Naruto found himself surprised again. Not because of Minato's harsh and rather hurting statement, but because it reminded him so much of himself when he was younger, that same fiery temper.

"Alright, Hokage-sama." This wasn't a fight he had to win. "But I do speak the truth."

"I find that hard to believe."

Naruto shrugged indifferently. "It's your opinion."

"It is." The Yondaime of Konoha agreed. "But it's a shared opinion."

Naruto side-glanced to Rin, who squeaked very quietly at the attention.

Naruto was very aware that he was getting into that rather testy edge in his personality, the one that bordered very close to Kyuubi and the one that made Tsunade and her guards on edge, and apparently Rin as well. And Rin didn't even know his reputation, yet there she stood, quietly shaking under the silent wrath of his gaze, hooded and aloof and yet so absolutely…dangerous.

"You're a danger to the village." Minato slid his eyes shut, voice grave, as if he didn't want to say it. As if he wanted to believe that this wasn't…true.

And Naruto nodded. "You're right, I am."

Minato opened his eyes quickly, and Rin's head whipped around, surprised he had said it so quickly. But Naruto met their stares with his level gaze. Rin shivered unconsciously, her scattered memories combining together to remember when Naruto had turned a man's face into a dripping mess with his bare hands…(in truth they were claws, but Rin had only scene the aftermath) and the way his eyes had that same flippant quality to them as they held now.

"But for different reasons then you may believe." Naruto added. "I'm not a spy. I don't work for anyone, and I haven't hailed from any other region then Konoha."

Okay. Lie, Kushina was from Whirlpool. But they couldn't know that yet.

They could never know that.

Minato narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe that."

And Naruto only smiled secretively. "One day," He started wryly, making sure his voice carried. "You're going to realize everything, and then, it's going to make a lot more sense than it does now."

"The day you and your country attack Konoha?" The Hokage cut off with fierce eyes, and Naruto was once again reminded of himself.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak. "There is no—

"Sensei, what the _hell_ happened to this place?"

Obito's tone was light as he padded down the hallway to the Hokage's room. The papers must have fluttered all the way into the hallway, scattering into the wooden rooms and must have looked quite amusing to Obito, who knew nothing about what was going on in the room.

"Sen—

And then he stopped. And froze.

"Naruto." He breathed, and he didn't even have to see the front of his hero's face to know exactly who it was, because Naruto looked exactly the same from the day he left. Untouched by the streams of time.

Rin was not fazed, already accustomed to the shock of seeing Naruto after encountering it herself and watching the fiery storm that Minato had brewed as well. "Obito, where's Kakashi? You didn't bring him with you?"

Obito's eyes didn't leave Naruto's back. "No…he…is still in the hospital. Fine...but he—uh—needed to sleep some more." Obito slowly regained his composure, voice pieced and cut because he had to keep reminding himself that Rin was asking something. "I didn't think it was anything big but—

The black-haired Uchiha trailed off, and he blinked slowly, almost owlishly. Drinking in that this was real…not a dream—he had had many of those, wishing for Naruto to come back in an almost similar fashion as this—but as reality.

"N-Naruto you…" Obito choked on his words, a familiar stinging running up his nose and into his eyes, burning them as if his Sharingan was suddenly manifesting, watching the cloudy sunlight hit the blond hair—

And Naruto smiled pleasantly at him, not mad, not happy, just pleasant. And for some reason, Obito found that…off. Seeing Naruto so off kilter and so unlike the way he was before—determined almost. When the last time he had seen Naruto the man was always so unfazed by his surroundings, laid back and still intense in a private sort of way. Seeing the determination and the that intensity—louder this time, as if it spoke in volumes—made him shiver unconsciously.

"Since you're all here." Naruto's tone was light. "You should all take a seat, this could take a while."

Rin and Obito tentatively did as they were told, seating themselves into chairs on opposite walls.

Minato didn't. "I'll stand." He sounded miffed.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, I'll start from the beginning. I wasn't lying when I said I was born in Konoha. I've lived my entire life in Konoha, and I'm a Jounin of Konoha too—

"Liar." Minato seethed. "You're not in any of my records—

"Oh, sorry." Naruto laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I will be a Jounin of Konoha, and I will live my entire life here."

The three sat in silence, the correction of words slowly churning in thought in their minds.

"Anyways, so when I said I was a Sealing Master, I meant it. I learned from the best, I'm sure you know of him even though he may not know of me yet. At first, I was just learning how to make the seals on explosive kunai, and boring things like making a blood seal."

Naruto pattered on. "And then finally, I hit another one of those big unexplained theories in sealing. After I had successfully made a leaf into grass, I was allowed to learn the vast amount of theories on Time Traveling."

"No…" Rin sucked in her breath.

"That's crap." Obito hissed.

Minato was taken aback, the only true Sealing Master besides Naruto and had learnt of some of those theories. "How…"

Silently, Naruto pulled out a pocketed scroll, and it split open as it hit the floor.

It was a four part seal, of slightly overlapping circles that—at least to Rin and Obito—looked like nothing more than an odd mixture of characters they had never seen in their lives. To Minato, however, it was most definitely another story.

"My Sensei had allowed me to travel around as I pleased, instilling the safety insurances that were the normal precautions for anyone traveling to a new place." Naruto said in a droll, remembering how terrible that was. "And it worked, for a while. I traveled to different places, different times that were alike and yet so different. I even saw myself younger a couple times." Naruto chuckled.

His eyes and voice softened. "And then I came here. I thought it was funny when Rin tried to throw kunai at me, because I had the same hitai-ate as her and she still thought I was the enemy."

Rin pouted, although it was lost whether it was in good nature or not.

"And then I saw the Yondaime." He continued, looking at Minato's hopeless and lost face in front of him. "And everywhere—especially in Konoha—he was a hero. Everyone knew about the Yondaime, and what he did for the country in the war…uh…among _other_things. But when I met you in person it was one of the coolest experiences in my life and I couldn't help but tag along." Naruto said softly.

Minato clenched his fist as he watched the flickering emotion on the boy's face, and then looking down to the perfect time scroll at his feet.

He thought about it for a long time.

" Impossible." He decided suddenly, even though the living proof was right there. "Its not…it can't…"

Naruto watched him struggle in confusion with his aloof eyes, watched as his students looked at him with empathetic eyes, because this was a decision that he had to make, and they would follow.

"Do you remember?" He asked pleasantly, noting how Minato's eyes didn't leave the scroll.

"You must have been twelve. Maybe eleven or ten. You had even come up to me—said my name was weird because it was like the things in ramen."

"N-No…" Minato denied it quickly, even though his memory had pieced together a smiling blond haired fellow, who was quite a ways taller than him, back dropped against a pretty delphinium blue sky dappled with clouds on the horizon and had watched that same sky with tired, sad eyes.

"And we went out to ramen, and then you bragged about Jiraiya, and after he showed up I decided that I would leave you two to your own." Minato was watching him now, the truth welling up and he _knew_it was the truth this time. "And do you remember what I asked you?"

He held his breath, gambling everything that Minato would remember a fellow with sunny blond hair that was a part of a small memory from a time when he was nothing but a hopeful Gennin. The breath sucked through his teeth and gave him a cold light-headed sensation as he watched Minato's eyes flicker around, in confusion and understanding and just about everything in between. Rin and Obito fidgeted in their seats. This story should have been labeled as an utter craziness, a lunatic in their sights yet they couldn't believe that—

"You asked me if we'd meet again sometime." Minato sighed.

"And we did." Naruto said simply.

It was those words that made it seem so absolutely simple. Just so…

"Yeah." Minato nodded. "We did."


	12. The Sixth Station

_Yeah, I know. Been a while. But really, only like a month! Chill ;) Anywayssss....so Rin is kinda, I dunno, I want her more grown up in this story. Since Kakashi can't be anything more than a passing aquaintance with Naruto I really can't have him in here as often as I would like, so Rin has to fill the shoes of the pessimist too. I noticed that a lot of people don't read these Authors Notes, and truthfully, I don't either when I read. But the point is, they're here for a reason. Most of the points brought up in reviews have already been discussed here. _

_Sixth Station-from Spirited Away

* * *

  
_

Rin leaned against the cool wood of the large oak tree, it was wet and the bark felt odd with its ridged edges and jagged lines against the soft hairs on her cheek. The leaves were starting to change color a bit, the edges a russet and the leaves fluttering around the large clearing. Her hands clasped the hem of her shirt like a delicate pair of butterflies. Her hair was limp and the color of smoothed wood, falling against her face and her eyes were watching the young man in the center of the clearing. Leaning her frame on the tree, she began to wonder what exactly she was doing here, and started to contemplate her reasoning as to why she was here, and why it had entranced her so.

A little ways in front of her, a small slope met the beginning of the clearing, surrounded in a line of dense Konohagakure trees that blocked out all of the bustling city noises some miles away. Minato sat cross legged on the small slope, arms propping his torso up and his flaxen-blond hair moving slightly in the wind. Rin couldn't see his face from the angle, but his tense shoulders gave off all she needed to know.

Obito was sitting next to her Sensei—she wasn't exactly sure how much of her sensei the Hokage was anymore—hands clasped behind his head and laying on the soft grass that colored green, flecks of it splayed in his hair from his endless fidgeting, maybe out of nervousness.

Nearly moments after Naruto had told them what little of his outlandish story he could, he had quickly scurried off to the particular clearing, intent on making a large permanent seal, that way what happened would never happen again.

Personally, Rin didn't believe any of it. She hoped that it was true, for her sake as much as Naruto's and everyone else's, because if it wasn't…well she didn't want to think about that. Naruto was practically family, they spent eight laborious months of lame D-class missions to extreme butt-kicking B-class ambush ones, and yet it had all fallen apart when he left for an extreme two years. Two years of worrying, of betrayed emotions and slaughtered trust. And now back again, scurrying around the clearing on a massive sheet of Rice paper, with brushes sticking out behind his ears and a large pot of ink so that he had enough of it to fill the entirety of the paper. He danced around the large sheet of paper with light feet, making sure not to step on any seals that he'd already done.

"Sensei," Rin whispered softly, so that she couldn't be heard over the wind. "I don't trust him."

Minato looked over his shoulder, his eyes had lost the hard steel edge they had adapted into at the office, ever since Naruto brought up something about Minato and Jiraiya and ramen. Rin didn't understand, but whatever they were talking about was enough for Minato to give him and his farfetched idea a good shot.

"I know," He said erringly.

She growled a bit, low in her throat. "Then why are we here?"

"You don't understand, Rin." He told her morosely, and it reminded her of the times he spoke to her—and all of team seven—when they were younger and wet behind the ears.

"Well than make me." She frowned petulantly.

He shook his head. "Its not something that I cant just, tell you, Rin. It's hard to explain."

Obito shifted a little again, plucking grass out of his head and turning his attention away from Naruto. "I believe him."

Rin shot him a look. Minato smiled at him a little.

"I mean," He clarified. "It makes sense, you know? He said that he specialized in sealing, and no offense to Naruto, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of person that could ever be a spy. He's too, emotional. He saved our butts that one time, and he's just, you know…Naruto. I feel like I've known him for a long time."

Her eyes once again moved slowly to Naruto's bustling form, most of his bangs were clipped out of his face—although most still flopped over anyways—his pants were rolled up, sleeves rolled and his face was smeared with ink where he had wiped it with his hands, toes and hands messily covered in choppy bits of ink. He was currently hovering over a small ink laden spot near the corner of the immense drawing, not a sealer herself, Rin couldn't even begin to digest the very workings of such a large and complex seal. Minato however, was fascinated. Much to her digression.

"So, theoretically speaking," he had moved from his spot near Obito on the slope, to hovering over Naruto's shoulder to take a better look at the artistry. "If you reversed the outer rings of the seal, and reversed the order of each graph, you'd be able to travel _forward _in time?"

"Yes, theoretically." Naruto echoed, making a large arching motion with his hands over the seals.

"It's really fascinating." Minato spoke up once again, more like a child with a candy bar then a twenty some or so year old Hokage. "Who actually designed this seal?"

"Not me." Naruto said quickly. "My mentor was a rather smart man…albeit his rather unorthodox tendencies to things unrelated to sealing."

Minato looked up. "Sounds like an interesting man. I'd love to meet him."

At this, the other blond smiled softly. "Yeah, you two would get along well…I'm sorry there's so much I can't tell you but—

"Yeah, I figure if you did you'd create some sort of paradox."

"That, and-" Naruto blanched. "My sensei would kill me for even thinking of revealing anything. You should've heard him when I left, rambling on about all this safety precaution. It was terrible."

Minato only nodded in solemn understanding, no doubt his curiosity was piqued, but he refrained from asking anything too adventurous. "Has Konoha…changed much?"

Naruto stretched his back, looking closely at Minato, studying him. Minato noticed that Naruto did that a lot with people. Identical water colored eyes stared at each other, and Naruto finally spoke. He must have found what he was looking for, Minato speculated.

"Not particularly, no." Naruto shrugged, continuing to work. "I mean, obviously new heads have been placed on the mountain, shops come and go. Although you'll be happy to know that Ichiraku's Ramen stand is still alive and kicking eighteen years in the future."

Minato brightened. "Now that is a good thing to know."

"Yeah," Naruto smiled slightly. "Not all that much has changed, new allies, new alliances, new…" He stopped slightly. "Enemies."

"I'm sure." The Hokage turned serious.

Naruto watched his seals carefully, making sure that his conversation wasn't messing up his concentration. "Yeah, I wish I could tell you. God knows you could help us but…I don't want to cause the universe to blow up or anything."

He tired to lighten the mood a little at the end, but it hadn't worked as well as he hoped.

Or maybe it did, because Minato's lip quirked slightly. "Yes well, I'm sure there's _something _you could tell us."

Naruto tipped his head back thoughtfully.

Well, of course there were things he could say, albeit the fact that suggesting that the Fifth Hokage had extremely enormous boobs might give a tip off to anyone who had known the 'princess' in her prime. But, they wouldn't know anything about Sakura, and as long as he didn't mention Sasuke as anything more than a brooding bratty prodigy from some big shot clan they probably wouldn't know the difference either. Of course, mentioning anything of Kakashi or Jiraiya may set off something, seeing as though neither of the two are dead yet and Naruto was planning on keeping it that way.

Maybe there were a few humorous anecdotes he could share…

"Hey you two." He whistled to the two Chuunin, who jumped, startled. "I know your listening, might as well hear this too."

Obito smiled sheepishly, while Rin tightened her arms that were folded over her chest, scowling.

Jeez, Naruto grimaced, not even out of her teens and already a bit of a battle axe.

"Let's see…" He plopped down cross-legged on a blank spot on his parchment, tucking the paint brush behind his ear and smoothing his inky hands over his rolled pants, making them even dirtier than they were.

He motioned for the others to follow in suit, and they tentatively dropped down.

"My Gennin team was…well, let's face it, everyone hates their Gennin team in the beginning." He smiled wistfully. "You see, mine was a bit different. I won't explain most of the mechanics or the reasons for it, but my team had a bit more…uh—dynamics then most teams. To this day, I honestly think it was the stupidest and smartest move Konoha ever made to put us all on that team."

He finished with a strange gleam in his eye, and from where Rin was leaning on her hands behind her she wondered if his eyes were wet from the reflection of the sky in the blues of them or because he was tearing.

"Anyways, so a lot of people didn't really like me in the village. I might have deserved it, I _was _a bit of a prankster…but it was for reasons a lot more personal to them and things beyond anything I could control." Minato's eyes softened, knowing he was talking about being a Jinchuuriki.

"You're not going to tell us why?" Rin interrupted rudely, but she wasn't really feeling the manners, and Naruto deserved some jeering.

"Nope." He grinned. "Where would the fun go if I did that?"

Rin scowled.

"So there was me, and then of _course_, there was the damsel in distress." Naruto winked playfully at Rin, who scowled even more. "And you know me, prince charming, just waiting to help my dear princess out. Sadly, the beautiful maiden was already charmed by…a not-so-charming other prince. And a royal jackass."

At this point, Rin scoffed. "Oh, he's a jackass because he got the girl before you could? I think you're just being a bad sport."

"Oh yeah." He rolled his eyes nonchalantly. "And then the guy goes off to slam an electric Jutsu into my chest, destroys my left lung, and then runs off to betray Konoha."

Obito's jaw dropped, Minato's eyes widened, and Rin momentarily stopped her jeers.

"…that's not funny." She said finally, deciding that the whole thing was just a big joke.

Naruto only smiled.

"Well anyways, story of my life. We split ways, my beautiful princess goes on to be a medic-nin, I haven't really talked to the royal jackass because whenever I do he's trying to skewer me with kunai." He sent a look to Rin, as if meaning to be childish. "His way of showing the love."

"That's it?" Obito frowned. "There's gotta be more you can tell us."

He paused momentarily, eying carefully the reactions on their faces. Rin was still put off and distrusting, Obito was curious, and Minato was…interested, but harder to read than the others.

"I have had two Sensei in the entirety of my eighteen or so years." He decided that if the universe would blow up and/or he created some sort of paradox then it would have done so already. "One of which, was Jiraiya. The other…well, you'd never guess and I'd never tell so I think it'll continue to be a secret."

"Jiraiya?!" Minato sputtered. "Wait a minute…when you said unorthodox tendencies you meant spying on the bathhouse?"

He nodded sagely. "He was a good man, good soul. Alas, our large-breasted Hokage packs a very powerful punch, and he didn't stand a chance."

"Large breasted…powerful punch…" Rin muttered to herself, pulling pieces together. "Your Hokage's Tsunade!"

"Yeah, damn Obaa-chan can pack a punch." Naruto tenderly rubbed his arm, even to this day it hurt to think about when she broke his arm with a punch aimed for his head. He'd never miss his tax reports again.

"Wait." Obito started quickly. "Are you sure you're supposed to be telling us this? I mean, couldn't you be changing the future or something?"

"I might be, I might not be." He said impassively. "I could be changing things around, or I might not be changing anything at all." He shrugged.

Minato caught on quick. "What do you mean by that…?"

Again, he shrugged.

"Tsunade." Rin breathed. "That must be so cool! Tsunade's a Hokage? She's still in Konoha? Oh my gosh! The many medical phenomenon she's solved…"

Rin proceeded to mutter to herself the many jutsu and medical theories that Tsunade had discovered in her time in Konoha, and a massive list of achievements the woman that Naruto had come to know as 'the old hag' had made. Truthfully, Naruto felt humbled listening to Rin babble. Sakura did it all the time, but it was different. It was _Sakura_, she babbled about everything. Maybe he should have given Tsunade more credit, he had always just figured she had kind of coasted her way through medics with her reputation as the granddaughter of a Hokage, granted, she was still a reputable medic.

Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"I think we've broken her." Obito whispered fiercely, and Minato chuckled.

"Oh!" He turned to Naruto, all skepticism lost in the moment. "What about your parents? Can you tell us about them?"

Naruto stiffened in a swift jagged motion, and he let out a discreet breath to calm himself. It went unnoticed by Rin and Obito-who were much too young to be able to notice such subtleties-but Minato caught it like a hawk's eye.

"Eh—well…" Naruto drifted off. "I didn't really know them. They uh—died. When I was younger." His sentences came out choppy, like he was trying to force them out. "So I can't really tell you much about them."

"I'm sorry." Rin said softly, and she looked like she meant it.

He smiled back pleasantly at her. "Well, I'm very sure they loved me, and they were worthy people. Both of them gave up their lives to save their country." _Their baby also. _He mentally frowned, wondering why this anger was rising up. It had been…a long time since he had ever felt anger to his parents. Ever since, well, it never happened after he had met them.

"That's," Rin gulped, over her disbelieving and doubtful (and now that she was really thinking about it, also very narrow-minded) look on things, she had been trying to see things from the other perspective. "A very good way to die. I think."

Her two teammates shot her the, 'shut up now' look. But she refused to notice.

"It's honorable, and its noble, and it proves that cowardice can be overcome." She sent him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry though that it was at the price of raising you."

Naruto blinked. Almost stupidly.

He hadn't expected anything to have come out right today.

He had first expected to be completely expelled out of Konoha on either the terms of mistrust or terms of insanity. It was by sheer luck that he remembered the promise he had given Minato, sheer luck that Minato had even believed him. And now, with both Minato and Obito steadfastly believing him, it was more than he could have ever wished to hope for. He certainly hadn't expected Rin to go along with it, she had blossomed into more than just a naive little girl with big dreams to be a medic Nin. Rin was now someone who looked at things for more than just face value, a good trait in the Shinobi world. It wasn't helping him now, but that was fine.

Naruto had expected it to take a couple days, weeks even, until Rin accepted his theory. Even by a sealing master's rights this was an outlandish story.

It was definitely a miracle that she even believedthis, and seemed to be forgiving him.

"It's alright." He said finally. "I've met a lot of people and I'm happy with where me and my parents stand."

Even if it is nothing more than platonic friendship, he could live knowing that he had met them.

He had defied time, and he had met them.

That was enough for him.

Obito nodded sagely, taking everything he had said word for word. Out of all of them, Obito was the most open and trusting. Naruto believed it to be a good and bad thing. Minato was more skeptical, nowhere near Rin (and he assumed Kakashi, but the relationship he shared with Kakashi in this time period was nothing more than acquaintance) but still a bit of doubt. But Minato knew his seals, and he was formidable in them enough to know that this was a true time seal. And eventually, he'd make the ultimate Jinchuuriki seal, the one on his stomach right now.

Rin nodded as well, already caught up in her normal female empathetic emotions to say anything else.

Surprisingly, Obito was the one who caught on.

"Wait a minute…happy where you stand? I thought that, you never knew them." He pointed out, frowning.

"True." Minato blinked. He had overlooked that, he was a bit busy thinking about _who _Naruto's parents were…

"E-Eh…" Naruto jumped. He hadn't meant for that to slip.

Rin frowned. She had just opened up and trusted him, and now she already believed he was faking the whole story—

"Well, I actually _didn't _pick this time period just randomly." He began lamely, not knowing how to say the truth without revealing anything. "I—err—actually came to see my parents."

Obito's eye brows shot to his hair line.

Rin blinked.

Minato however, nodded. He had figured. "And? Did you see them?"

"Yeah." He breathed, smiling slightly. "They really are good people."

"So you time traveled to get closure." Rin whispered in awe. Whether in the entirety of the whole time traveling thing or because she thought he was _stupid_ to threaten the balance of the world was beyond him.

"And that's where you've been going when we didn't see you here!" Obito put the pieces together.

Well, not exactly, but Obito had just given him a good cover.

So he nodded. "Yup."

"That's—

Minato was starting to say something, but he became distracted by the droplet that had hit his nose.

Naruto looked up, alarmed. The sky had darkened as they talked, and a slight drizzle had taken Konoha by siege. He jumped, quickly using one of Yamoto's few Mokuton jutsu he had taught him to bend the trees to move over the seal, creating a canopy of leaves and wood to surround the large piece of parchment. He didn't want to create a large Doton Jutsu to cover because then it would look to conspicuous. What could the officials say to a few bent trees? The only person who could have possible done so would be a deceased Hokage, time travelers didn't count.

The rain had begun to full more steadily, the pitter patter was becoming audible and the other forest trees had begun to sway. Naruto finished his jutsu by placing a water repelling Jutsu on the paper, it wasn't enough to hold off a downpour, but if water ran down from the leaves it would be enough to hold it off. He turned around to see Rin gaping at him like he was some sort of scientific phenomenon and Obito gasping at him like he was god. Minato had his arms folded, looking exasperated.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Minato whispered with a grin.

Rin clapped her hands. "Mokuton Jutsu! Wow! Just who _are _your parents…?"

"Sweet! That's so cool!" Obito smiled lop-sided at him.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Eh, you see my Sensei when I was a Chuunin was this guy who could actually use Mokuton Jutsu! I don't really know the mechanics of it, but he did teach me the basics. Or at least, the basics I could use without being related to the First."

"Still cool." Obito repeated.

Naruto laughed.

He picked up his portable sealing kit. Well, more like a container with ink cartridges and a couple spare brushes.

"Why don't we get back to the Village?" He smiled at them. "I need a shower."

Rin gave him the once over. "Definitely."

--

--

--

Minato sometimes felt both blessed and cursed to be the Hokage,

Cursed, when his many assistants came in with copious amounts of paper work that continuously flooded his office by the house. The worst were the ones that had little to nothing to do with him, like fixing a pipe in a leaky building, and the second worse were the political issues that slapped him in the face. He personally hated the council with nearly every fiber of his being. The least they could do was hold elections, not just appoint clan heads whenever they see fit.

And then there were times when he rejoiced, because of the sheer knowledge he now had access to that made everything just so much easier.

The sun was barely coming up, and he had rushed into his office and opened the Konoha vaults.

He was now looking at a large tapestry that was spread over most of the flooring in his office. It held everyone who was born in the last twenty years, their parents, and things about them. Something like a family tree…except, these were usually used by medics looking for genetic diseases, not Hokage looking for any sort of match. Well, Naruto was born around this time, so that must mean his parents were about this age. It was a long shot…and it would take an extremely long time to be able to hound out all these people, especially a one that would match…

Alright, he was desperate.

He had a hunch…and he wanted—no, _needed_—to know if he was right.

He remembered Naruto the day he had met him, his reaction. The shock. The surprise. The…anger? It was an odd glint in his eyes but Minato was sure it wasn't a pleasant one. If he was right, then everything would fit. He was near certain, just looking at their identically perfect blue eyes. And he was blond, not entirely uncommon in Konoha, and they weren't exactly the same shade (Naruto was a bit darker, which made him believe his mother had darker hair). Their skin was close though, and he was sure if he went into the sun a little more instead of cooked up in the office he'd have that tan.

But.

He chewed his lip, squatting down near the near endless list of names.

Was it possible…?

"Hokage-sama—?"

His lousy intern—he didn't want one, but his secretary was thinking of going away for vacation and someone had to be decently trained to be the secretary of the Hokage. Apparently, it was a job description all on its own—had opened the door, ripping the top part of the tapestry with a loud rip. And then, the intern proceeded to gasp and jump, making the tea she was carrying splatter onto the now ripped and wet part of the tapestry.

He wanted to bang his head.

"I'm s-so sorry!" She set the tea down quickly on a table next to the door, pulling a form out from under her arm.

He groaned. More paperwork.

"U-Uhm an unidentified ANBU has been released out of the intensive care ward in the hospital and…" She gulped, watching his fiery eyes. "The new hospital policy requires you to sign a form for a blood test to be done to find any relatives."

He paled.

Unidentified ANBU now needed signatures from _him _to get consent for all their treatments?! That was insane…there were so many forms and he was already swamped with paperwork that he certainly didn't need piling on his desk without stupid things like new medicine being prescribed to his ANBU or inane things like…like…a blood test….

"That's it!" He jumped to his feet, and the intern gasped again, knocking into the table and spilling the tea all over the table _and _the paper.

He strode out of his office, careful not to step on any names on the giant piece of parchment, and proceeded out of his office.

"S-Sir…wait!" She hurried after him. "The f-forms!"

Minato quickly swiped the pen out of her fingers, signed a messy signature, and gave the clip board back to her.

"Now, I am leaving for what may possibly take three hours. I want that tea cleaned up and the tapestry left _spotless_." He hissed the word, watching her flinch. "And for all my paperwork to be put on hold."

She was left gaping, before she closed her mouth and then opened again to rapid-fire more of things that were so, 'dire' and needed his attention immediately.

"And by the way, you're fired."

And he then opened a window and jumped out of it, successfully leaving her jobless and appalled and with no way to come after him.

The hospital was in a frenzy.

The attendant at the front desk was swarmed by concerned parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, even _children_. Many of the nurses were running around with supplies and all the medic Nin were currently treating a handful of people that had been caught in a burnt building. The authorities had put out the flames but it was a rather busy building, the first floor was a coffee shop, second was an office building, and the last two were apartments, one of which was having a birthday party and many of the parents here were simply over concerned because the fire was on another floor entirely.

At least, that was what the only nurse available had told him.

He had given up the blood readily, a long time ago before ANBU he had been squeamish of them, but after a while, he simply decided that they were like kunai, all he had to do was imagine that it was kunai, not a grotesque looking syringe…watching the blood flow into it…yuck.

The nurse was an old lady, her hair was graying and she had it pulled into one of those odd looking shower cap things, this one being pink and matching her scrubs. She was mean, even to him.

He would have let Rin do it—honestly, he didn't know how his young teammate did it but she made it painless when she gave shots—but then Rin was a curious being by nature and would immediately ask why he wanted one. And that was an answer he didn't want to give her. The last thing he needed was her running off to Naruto and demanding (in that way of hers, with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed) to know if him and Minato were…were…

God, he couldn't even say it.

Really, he could barely even wrap his mind around it.

She pulled—no, _wrenched_—the needle out of his arm and he held a wince. Oh, was he in captivity in Iwa now? He was pretty sure that hurt like torture he had been through before.

The old nurse told him to wait for a couple minutes, and lie his head down so he didn't get nauseous. She said it would take about a week or so to get his blood tested, and then compare it to the sample they had of Naruto's on his file. He had told her to keep that in secrecy, claiming ANBU material or whatever. He hoped she at least didn't go blabbing that he got a blood test, the last thing he needed was the hospital running around giggling about how the Hokage 'apparently' got blood work done for an STD or something. And then have Kushina with an axe ready to come after him.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and belatedly realized he didn't want to go back to the tower that awaited him with paperwork any time soon.

It was by chance he ran into the one person he was milling about.

"Oh! Minato!"

He turned around, and smiled.

Naruto was balancing a paper bag of groceries in one hand, and another cradled to his chest. Minato waved.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?" He asked.

The blond grinned. "Just some grocery shopping. I'm renting a block away from here; although the landlady was kinda upset I stopped payment for two years." He said sheepishly. "But I _did _pay extra before I left."

"Time travel, huh?" Minato laughed, as if they were just joking around.

Naruto laughed too. "You gotta love it. I think I'm stinking my place up with all those ink pots though. But hey! Let me go and drop this stuff off and let's go to Ichiraku with Obito!"

"Sounds good."

The two were walking side by side, and anyone who didn't know them would have suggested them to be brothers. Minato luckily had enough sense to change out of his Hokage robes, and was now in standard shinobi wear of slacks and a shirt with arm gloves. Sandals, of course. But most people knew who he was by his face. Naruto however, didn't seem to be a shinobi at all. His hair fell in his face without his hitai-ate, and he had cuffed baggy jeans and just a normal tee shirt.

He had a nice apartment, with a good view of the park across the street and on the third floor you could see a little past the walls to the mountains in the distance.

Minato wondered where he got the money, because honestly, he doubted it was a smart investment to time travel, in fact, it seemed more like it would eat up your wallet instead of help it. But then again, maybe Naruto just made some smart bets that he already knew the outcome of or something. It was possible.

"I go through the window." Naruto whispered fiercely, motioning with his head to a couple arguing at the entrance to his apartment complex. "They do that all the time."

And such was the perks of being a shinobi.

The apartment was spacious.

Sparsely decorated, but it looked decent compared to some shinobi he knew. Kakashi for example, had a crate box as part of his living room. At least Naruto had decent taste, and a nice kitchen with granite counter top. The walls were white washed and the floor was wooden, with long windows that stretched from the ceiling to the floor.

"Making yourself comfortable." Naruto said between a potato chip bag in his mouth. "I'm just gonna run this into the kitchen."

He moved into the other part of the apartment where the dining and kitchen were.

Minato shrugged, plopping himself onto the couch.

"Huh." He whispered to himself, looking at a letter that was opened, and sitting along with a pile of other mail.

Minato took a quick peak at the hallway, and he heard Naruto faintly humming as he put away the stuff he had bought. Minato gave the letters a once over, definitely Konoha post, and most of them seemed like written letters, no magazine subscriptions or anything. He figured because there wasn't a point in them when you traveled time, who cared about news when you'd be twenty years before it happened anyways? He scanned at their dates, and gasped. All of these letters were from over nineteen years in the future!

He bit his lip. He shouldn't. Really.

But Naruto would never know…

Ah hell with it.

He picked up the opened letter, starting from the beginning.

_Hey, Naruto_

_When will you ever tell me about where you are besides the fact that its nice weather and you eat ramen nearly every day? I mean, we could start with some of the people you hang out with from day to day, or you don't even have to tell me names! How about just personality? I'm…I'm sad, Naruto. I wish you could tell me, I wish we could be close again like we used to be. _

Minato snorted. Who was this? His ex girlfriend or something?

_I suppose I should start with myself. Everything's fine at the hospital, Tsunade-shishou has me working like a horse or something though. It's terrible._

Shishou? Minato blinked. Naruto dated the Hokage's apprentice? Not bad…

_I tried talking to Sai. But its like talking to an idiotic five year old. Honestly, that guy makes me mad! Although Kakashi-sensei and I have been meeting for lunch every couple weeks, just to keep in touch. Its hard, with his ANBU and my crazy hospital hours, and his porn. It's terrible how much he reads that stuff. Even worse that Jiraiya still writes it! But we make it work._

Kakashi-sensei?! Minato chortled laughter. Even though this letter had a rather sad tone to it, he couldn't help it. Kakashi. Was Naruto's Gennin sensei. He just…couldn't see it. He couldn't. And porn! He never thought Kakashi was a pervert.

_Please write back whenever you get this…wherever you get it. _

_Love, Sakura_

Minato contemplated that maybe Sakura was part of his Gennin team, it would explain why she was trying to keep in touch with their sensei and why they were so close, without dating. But Naruto had suggested that he liked her, with the whole prince charming speech. But in the letter it almost seemed like he was giving her the cold shoulder.

"Minato?"

He quickly put the letter down where he found it, and swapped it for one of the newspapers lying around on the floor before Naruto could see him snooping into his personal life. The headline read: Sound vs. Konoha.

Naruto blinked when he saw him. "Uh…I don't think your supposed to be reading that. You know, paradox and stuff."

"Oh!" He dropped it quickly, he had originally planned just to use it for show, but now he was genuinely curious. "Sound? What's that?"

Naruto scratched his head, as if finding a suitable way to phrase this. "It's a-uh, new Shinobi country. Otogakure. I dunno, we don't really get along with them. A while ago, they sabotaged one of our Chuunin Exams."

"Chuunin Exams are supposed to be neutral." Minato stated obviously.

Naruto shrugged. "Oto doesn't play fair."

"But I suppose, a while ago for you is quite a leap in the future for me…I guess things have changed."

"Yeah." Naruto sighed soberly. "A lot."

Minato watched him sympathetically.

"Oh, anyways, let's go get Obito before he throws a fit!" Naruto smiled at him, and he laughed.

As they walked down the stairs, Naruto gesturing to something that he wasn't really paying attention to, Minato noticed the hand gestures he used when he talked. He studied how Naruto and him really did have this odd uncanny alikeness to them that was a bit abnormal. He supposed there were many blondes in Konoha, many with tan skin and blue eyes, so he really shouldn't be thinking about this. But…

Could he possibly…?

* * *

_Ohh...ending with a question. I'm terrible. But hey, at least Minato isn't being dumb and oblivious now! _


	13. Vertigo High

_So, I'm re-editing this story cause it really kills me, that, and ff took out all my lines? THAT'S NOT COOL. _

* * *

Karin's trembling fingers hit a snarl once more, and, furiously, she tugged her hand out of her hair with a pained hiss. Juugo eyed her with a varied expressions from bemusement to downright disdain as she struggled for something to occupy her time—and hands with.

The female member of Team Hebi had always been like this, for as long as Juugo had the (dis)pleasure of knowing her. Generally Karin started out by struggling fruitlessly with the messier side of her head, and once realizing how futile an endeavor combing her hair was making to be, she'd switch to smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt. The process, which took about thirty seconds, ended with her hands fisted at her sides. He'd never seen her have such a variety of nervous ticks until, well, Sasuke came along. Juugo seemed to be the only one to notice these sorts of things.

Speaking of the Uchiha, he'd been taking his sweet time in the meeting room for the majority of the morning, and Juugo was beginning to get bored.

He'd been in there talking to Kabuto in hushed tones, and Juugo speculated that the reason Karin was more fluttery then usual had something to do with the fact that they all truly didn't know what this was about. And at this rate, neither did Juugo.

Kabuto's visits were, fortunately, short and to the point, usually only involving Sasuke in some small stone-enclosed rooms with one dim lighting. There were many _other _speculations Juugo could draw from such a scenario, though he preferred not to think of things that ended with an upset stomach, an invariably scarred Sasuke and all the wild rumors about Kabuto coming to fruition. At any rate, the meetings were always between the two of them, leaving the rest of Team Hebi to wait outside like a three-man line of rejects.

Suigetsu was looking off somewhere in the vicinity of the dark ceiling and the darkest corner in the room, with this aloof look on his face marred with a scowl. His shoulders were only slightly tense. Karin, to his left, was shaking like a leaf and it seemed near uncontrollable—perhaps she believed they were lining for execution.

"Understood?" The door pushed open slightly, the muffled voices clearing.

"…Hn." The, 'whatever' that usually came after this was left out for courtesy only, as Sasuke pushed his hands into his pockets.

"Be ready by seven, tomorrow."

With that, Kabuto turned their direction, and with a cynical (or perhaps lecherous, it was one of those things that was seriously hard to tell) grin he opened the door and let himself out.

Personally, Juugo never liked that guy. There was something particularly off about Kabuto, and for that matter, most of the guys in Otogakure. Like he spent the majority of the time watching people bathe, or touched small children in terrible places. Perhaps that was the vibe Juugo had been feeling from him the whole time?

"Kabuto molests people." He came to the conclusion aloud.

Luckily, his teammates were quite used to his farfetched, usually irritating (and usually untrue) statements, yet this time, Sasuke only seemed to nod, Suigetsu had a look of agreement, and Karin sputtered, and then looked agape.

.

.

—x—

.

.

Naruto fluffed his hair with one hand, the other holding out Sakura's latest letter for him to read. A stick of pocky dangled from his lips, and his usual contented visage had been replaced with a disturbingly morose version that this time's Team Seven had never seen. He looked nothing like the slightly foolish looking guy that greeted Team Seven with a grin and outlandish stories. Cold-faced and intense-eyed Naruto had a contemplative feel, his studio with its one sofa and small coffee table looked solemn with him standing in the room.

The blonde sighed.

Sakura sounded worried, as usual (it was engraved into her nature to worry). Luckily, it was over fickle things like his health—honestly, did she even have to ask?—and the weather, not over particularly larger subjects like w_here the hell was he_. He was grateful for the slight reprieve, and would write her back when he got back home.

Though this could take some time. His coffee table was filled with—Jiraiya had insisted on him carrying a pack for all the crap, and then the pervert had proceeded to collect letters from all his friends along with newspapers (and, sadly, his latest edition of Icha Icha was crammed in there) for him to read. He'd have to reply to all of them at some point. Shikamaru's wasn't all that interesting, but he appreciated the Jounin lettering him all the same. Neji's he wasn't too particularly surprised with, and all it was about was clan politics and whatever he could disclose about his missions in ANBU. He welcomed the fact that Neji had even bothered to write to him.

Tsunade's was the most troubling.

Orochimaru's recent movements weren't pointing to anything specific, but his _lack thereof_ did. If he wasn't doing something he was obviously planning or mulling about something that Konoha wouldn't appreciate. And Sasuke's team sniffing around his and Jiraiya's seals wasn't anything good either. Orochimaru was planning something and Naruto was beginning to get a bit tired of the bile in his stomach that was usually only reserved for thoughts of Sasuke.

While the blonde was engrossed in thought, the young Uchiha perched out his window ruminated on the subject of his most recent thoughts.

Naruto's apartment was something of a bachelor's pad; it had a kitchen that was connected to the living room, with dark colored wooden floorboards that looked as old as Konoha itself. His only furnishing was the cream colored sofa and the long stretch coffee table with scattered letters over it. The door to his bathroom and bed was closed so Obito could only speculate on what could possibly be behind it. There was something particularly… odd about the thought of Naruto possibly living anywhere. He was an enigma, one which Obito was beginning to realize he had never really known. It almost felt wrong to place him in one certain point in time, or one memory, to associate him with a house.

'It has an artless feel to it,' Obito thought to himself. Naruto himself did as well, wearing nothing but a black beater in slacks and a dog tag necklace hanging on his neck.

"Need something?"

Obito nearly fell out of the window, gathering his wits as quickly as possible to save himself from further embarrassment.

"Minato-sensei is going out to lunch." Obito said by way of explanation.

"Ramen?" He sounded hopeful.

Obito smirked. "Could it really be anything else?"

The smile lit up his face so fast Obito could hardly remember the twisted, thoughtful look that had once been in its place.

.

.

"Ahh…." Naruto sank into the deliciously tantalizing flavor of his noodles with an unknown fervor that was usually only unleashed when learning various kick-ass jutsu.

Rin's smile wavered slightly. "U—Uh…isn't that more than enough for one day?"

"One day?" Obito sputtered with great horror. "How about one _meal_?"

Minato hummed in a sort of mix between amusement and agreement.

"Its ramen!" Naruto protested hotly. "I can't help myself when it comes to ramen…it's like…the god of all foods, food of the gods! You get my point."

Rin poked the already soggy noodles in her bowl. "No actually, I don't get it."

"Ah well…we can't teach the ignorant everything." Naruto mock-sighed, between a large slew of noodles crammed into his mouth.

Rin squawked in a bout of protest; she stopped poking her noodles and instead threw them at Naruto—who, only by his excellent Shinobi abilities was able to dodge them as they ingrained themselves into the wall.

"Sensei!" Rin whined. "Do something!"

"Like what?" Minato had an easy grin spread over his face, looking comfortable leaning against the counter.

Rin sputtered for words. "I…I don't know! Anything!"

Minato looked contemplative. "Alright, next time we go for lunch, Rin picks." He spoke at last.

Rin cheered, and Naruto protested, though the words were lost in the noodles which inhabited his mouth.

How quickly things had stretched into normality again confused Minato a bit, but he was in no means ungrateful for the quick and painless change. He had expected Rin to pout and mull for another couple weeks, before finally deciding that Naruto wasn't being spurious about the whole thing. Obito looked content snickering at the pair, sitting between them and making his was around his fourth bowl of ramen (nothing compared to the staggering amount of Naruto's…but a decent collection)

"But ramen is the best!" Naruto's protest—this one with actual words, not just gurgles—pushed out Rin's laughter. "I mean, I can have ramen every day! You should see me and Ka—ah—Kaito! Yeah, yeah…this kid from the village! We were great ramen pals you know."

He sighed… he almost said Kakashi. That wouldn't have been good.

Speaking of Kakashi…

"Oh shit!"

Naruto leapt from his stool in a staggering display of strength, because his chair smacked to the floor and started to roll along the floor, a pit formed from where the stool was nailed to the ground.

Rin visibly paled, and Obito comically opened his mouth until the noodles were falling out.

"Its his birthday!" Naruto leapt from out of the ramen stand, completely unaware of the damage he'd done to his favorite ramen stand. "U-Uh…I gotta go back to…well you know! _AH_!"

Naruto was rambling by now, and Minato couldn't even make out anything except for the first sentence and the rest was so muffled and said so quickly that they were a muddle of half phrases and partial words.

"Slow down." He held his hand out to steady the rapidly deteriorating blonde, heaving a breath. "Repeat."

Naruto took a breath, and made sure that the ramen chef was in the back, out of hearing range.

"It's my Sensei's birthday. I gotta go back because I promised my teammate that I would go and surprise him! Ahh man…how could I have forgotten? I hope I get back in time…"'

"Your sensei?" Rin echoed.

"You never did tell us who that was…" Obito muttered.

Minato had a knowing smile. "Well, when do you have to be there?"

"Soon I suppose," Naruto sighed. "It'll be a whole day thing probably, and it takes a couple hours before I re-appear in the future so I'll actually be there pretty late."

Obito frowned. "So you're leaving?" He looked as if the news had just killed his entire day.

"Yeah," Naruto drooped, before perking once more. "But I'll be back soon! Like, tomorrow at the latest!"

Rin looked skeptical, Obito looked downright depressing, and Minato was contemplative. Naruto bit his lip, Sakura would _kill _him if he missed, not with her dangerously powerful punches but with her heart-broken eyes like the color of lime glass candies. That was a gut wrenching feeling on its own. Even though he didn't want to leave his father and his friends, he had no choice… even if they wouldn't believe him and he knew that they were skeptical of his true intentions.

He waved and said his goodbyes as quickly and sincerely as he possibly could before sprinting with as much chakra he could pour into his feet, leaping over seven roofs at a time.

Its not that he wanted to skip Kakashi's birthday or anything, him and Sakura had planned their quiet dinner surprise at a snazzy restaurant on the better side of town for a while now, and Kakashi would be coming back from his latest ANBU mission and it was perfect timing. He'd enjoy it, but he knew that in the end he'd been wondering what Minato was up to at that time.

And Sakura, she tried so hard…but Team Seven was falling apart. _Had _fallen apart a long time ago, and there wasn't much they could do in fixing it. Naruto had gotten to the point where he believed that Team Seven couldn't, and didn't need to be fixed. Kakashi had returned to his ANBU crazy hours, in town at one in the morning and already gone by four. Sakura practically ate, slept, and lived at the hospital, and Naruto was smack in the middle in the most genius and acclaimed sealing innovation in eighteen years. And Sasuke…well, Sasuke wasn't even a part of Team Seven anymore.

The seal was still in the utmost of perfect conditions when he stopped his high speed travel and created long skid marks in the dirt.

He froze though, this weird, unexplainable feeling moving down his back.

Like ice sliding slowly, he looked around, attentive to the muted sounds of the forest. Nothing in particular seemed to have set him off, but he couldn't quite place this… disturbance. He'd never had a reason to distrust his instincts before, and he wasn't about to start now.

The blonde turned down to his feet, where the sealing paper continued to glow faintly. …Strange. It was made to lie dormant when it wasn't in use, and as an anchor seal, the black ink would glow a bright shade of blue. The dim light was of inky darkness, and Naruto immediately leapt off the paper and rummaged through his pack. The book was nearly a foot tall when laying on its cover, and would take a good hour to find a page that may even have a speck of relevance to his problem, and then take _days _to fix the problem, and Naruto just hadn't the time for that.

After perusing Sealling for Dummies, Book IV, and not finding anything aside from a general rundown of the after effects of seals, not of which were of any use. Since Naruto and Jiraiya were the first to ever branch into this science of sealing, it wasn't like there was some sort of troubleshooting guide he could just… look up.

But, it didn't _look _like it was malfunctioning, and it certainly wasn't burning to a crisp in his pocket, so he supposed it wasn't in any danger.

That, and he was kind of in a hurry.

He paused though, setting the tome down in deep consideration.

"What if…" He began loud with confusion, "This is what the seal looks like when someone is coming over?"

But who?

Jiraiya, he admonished himself quickly. Who else? No one else knew what they were up to, sans Tsunade, but she had no idea how to work seals anyway.

With no time to spare, Naruto jumped onto the large parcel, and began to make the required seals.

Belatedly, as the iridescent blue shine encased him, and shattered his vision, he realized that Jiraiya didn't have the chakra capacity to use this seal…in fact, _no one _did.

.

.

—x—

.

.

Dinner was a great affair.

Sakura had conveniently forgot to mention to Naruto that Sai would be there, so Naruto dressed smart casual, pleased with his jeans and ironed pinstripe blue button down. Of course, he wasn't expecting his taste in clothing—and overall self-esteem as a man—to be shot down in flames the moment he walked up to the table. Sai always had different ways to insult his manhood, and never bothered to shut his mouth when doing so.

"You don't understand Sakura," Sai was saying, "Naruto, like every man, thinks with his—

"Sai." Sakura hissed, looking delicate and all together like a real woman—she had received no such insults from Sai—and not like the usual sweatpants and t-shirt kind of girl she was. Her small black dress was attracting the attention of every man in the room, or maybe it was just her legs. Sakura had good legs, Naruto digressed.

"Its fine Sakura." Naruto muttered, stabbing at his salad with a look of irritation and strained amusement. "Sai just enjoys conversing about his favorite subject; dicks."

Sakura gaped and struggled to dig her heel into his foot. The blonde yelped in pain. "Don't' say those kinds of words here!" She hissed through her teeth, looking around worryingly. She obvious was remembering that it took a year's advance to have these reservations.

"You'd think she swallowed a lemon." Kakashi grinned through his mask, watching Sakura's face contort from indignant annoyance into shock.

"S-Sensei!"

The newly twenty-five year old—or so he said, and it was the same age he said last year…and the year before that…and the year before that…—had nothing to say in his defense, merely sipping his water (from behind his mask?).

"Well, if one-inch wonder he would like to discuss something else, he can." Sai had a much-too pleasant look on his face. It looked downright weird, especially for something like Sai who generally had no emotions at all.

"Sakura's wearing a black thong." Naruto interrupted quickly.

Said black-thong wearing woman looked aghast.

Sai jerked his head. "That waitress over there has pink."

"That woman with the weird guy with the top hat." Naruto made vague movement with his head. "Blue with a white stripe."

"Yellow." Sai motioned to the frisky looking blond next cuddling with a brunette man twice her age.

"Green with pink polka dots." The woman was attractive in her thirties with her husband.

"_H-Honestly!"_ Sakura shrieked, as their voices began to rise and draw the attention of a few tables around them. "This is absolutely _ridiculous_. Trying to prove your manliness does _not _mean that you show each other up by guessing woman's underwear!"

Kakashi hummed, looking completely unconcerned (though to be fair, he rarely looked anything _but_). "Well, actually Sakura it is. It's _correctly _guessing woman's underwear. I am right, right?"

Sakura blushed furiously, looked at her napkin, and didn't say a word.

"The hostess had on black with ribbons, nice ass too." Naruto appraised.

As the night, and the wait for their food, continued onwards, the competition spiraled into a fierce battle of dominance.

However, Sai took the lead. "Tsunade's wearing red. Red…with frills."

Sakura choked, Kakashi whistled, and Naruto cursed for his broken pride.

Kakashi was just one of the most laid back of Sensei, and simply didn't mind his already grown up little kiddies enjoying some perverted banter, in fact, he relished it and joined in the fun. Sakura however, had the decency to look completely mortified and didn't say a word during the divulge into perverted, though well meaning banter. In fact, she looked a bit pink when they started getting engrossed in Icha Icha's latest climactic ending…with lots of climaxes.

But their fun ended by nightfall when Kakashi confessed that he had to leave by noon for his next two-month recon mission, even though he just returned from a dangerous A-class one earlier that day. Naruto protested loudly, but—to his surprise—Sakura hadn't said anything. She looked heart-broken to see Kakashi overworking himself so much. She always looked so heart-broken when it came to the members of team Seven.

They were her broken family, after all.

He made sure that before he returned to the prior time, he left flowers from Ino's shop. He told himself that it was because she seemed so upset about Kakashi, but in truth he knew it was because he was once again escaping from his troubles, and he wanted to compensate for leaving Sakura alone. And even then, he thought guiltily, it wasn't any real compensation.

The hill was covered in fresh morning dew, but, to his dismay and fear, it wasn't the only thing it was covered in.

Sasuke and Suigetsu stood over the hill with looming shadows that stretched all the way to the bottom of the mount, the sun rising behind them.

"Dobe." The Uchiha greeted coolly, watching him over his shoulder.

Naruto clenched his fists.

The weird red-head who didn't know how to use a comb and the weirdo with anger-management problems were combining their chakra to open the seal, he realized. The two of them looked weak and worn out, the girl to the point of collapsing. Naruto blinked, he hadn't realized that his inhuman capacity was so much larger than any other humans…or at least not to this point. He didn't even feel entirely drained using the seal (he could still fight at least) but the girl looked near unconscious, and that Juugo guy looked no better off.

"What the hell are you doing Sasuke?" He didn't bother with their usual jeers. Sasuke didn't even deserve that. "Your teammates are dying." And after a short appraisal of their ashen faces; "Quickly."

Sasuke didn't spare them a glance, dark eyes fixed on the blonde. "You've been busy, I see."

Naruto growled. "What are you here for, Sasuke?" He spat, eyes darting furiously from the Uchiha, to his teammates behind him.

Though the answer was obvious, and Sasuke didn't deign it worthy of reply. He only unsheathed his katana from his hip slowly, the sword glimmering in the sun.

Sasuke pivoted and then cleared the stretch of hill between them in a matter of seconds, but Naruto countered his blade with a kunai, feeling the frustration and anger bubbling inside him.

"You're always such a bastard Sasuke!" He yelled, pulling his kunai forward and deflecting each of Sasuke's strikes. "Leaving your teammates to die… do you even know what your doing?"

Tilting his head, the Uchiha stopped his brutal offense to flip backwards. "A time seal, correct?"

Naruto stiffened.

"Orochimaru is well informed." Said the Uchiha.

"I don't care shit about your crazy psycho child molester of a master." He said the word master with pleasure, watching Sasuke's back straighten and his lips tighten. "But I know that you and your teammates will die before even successfully fulfilling the procedure."

He bluffed.

"Really, dobe? Have you forgotten what these eyes can do?" The Sharingan's tomoe swam slowly in his eyes. "I memorized those hand seals and even the correct amount of chakra to power the seal. You can't fool the Sharingan."

Naruto knew that it actually took a near double amount of chakra to send himself back (and if Sasuke wanted to get back to this time, he'd have to have about three times the amount of chakra he had now), but he didn't want to reveal any of his ace cards yet. Chakra swirled into his hand.

"You talk like you know everything!"

Naruto hurtled into him with a full powered Rasengan curling in his hands, and Sasuke's black colored Chidori met his with full force. The hill's side was reduced into flying pieces of dirt and a jagged hole where a field of flowers once resided. Spitting dirt out of his mouth and using Kyuubi's eyes to see clearly through the cloud of dirt, Naruto powered another Rasengan, watching the dirt and the air sucked from the forest and the sky begin to collect in his hand like a maelstrom.

Sasuke had flipped onto a tree branch nearly twenty meters in front of him, powering another Chidori.

Naruto surveyed the crackling lighting wrapped around the Uchiha's hand with a keen eye. Uchiha he may be, but Sasuke couldn't keep up this high-chakra fighting style for very much longer—and Naruto was going to take advantage of tht.

They met again, and Naruto deliberately dodged out of the way, even at the cost of missing Sasuke with his attack.

"What are you playing at dobe?" Sasuke hissed, as his curse seal started to crawl up his neck.

It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "What? You're Sharingan eyes can't tell you?"

Again they sprang, but this time, Naruto used a Doton jutsu to create a large spike of fractured earth, while Sasuke used a Katon. He caught a glimpse of the Uchiha's face in the cross fire, eyes narrowed in thought.

Obviously Sasuke wasn't that well informed, because Orochimaru hadn't told him that with Naruto's mastery of the fourth tale, came an affinity to fire. The fire ball didn't burn him at all, and he caught Sasuke off guard enough to hit him with his Jutsu.

Sasuke landed some paces away, obviously keeping a more circumspect outlook on their fight.

The Uchiha must have realized that this was about fighting him while still conserving enough strength to successfully complete the mission. With a careful and cautious way of thinking, the Uchiha shot a side look to his water-using companion, who was waiting patiently on the hill with his near unconscious teammates.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke nodded.

To say Naruto was miffed that he had to fight the second best was an understatement, but he didn't bother to say anything. With infinite chakra, he could go on for days. But, the only problem was that to reach that infinite well of chakra, he'd have to tap into Kyuubi's enormous reserves, and that left him more mentally unstable and more susceptible to Sasuke's jeers. And with Kyuubi's influence, he had no idea how that would end up.

He could clearly remember the incident with Jiraiya and many more tails than he could handle. It ended with a charred forest that was burnt to cinders and a large stain on the earth that would probably never recover with its teeming demonic chakra engraved into it.

Suigetsu was a piece of cake.

The water-jutsu user of the team was keeping his distance, using chakra-preserving long ranged jutsu to combat him, and it was near pointless. He may not be able to turn his body heat high enough to turn water to steam (which could only be accomplished with three tails) but he could still dodge them, and it was pitifully easy.

"This is pathetic." Naruto growled. "Fight me, Sasuke."

The Uchiha looked tempted, but he didn't.

Feeling Kyuubi's chakra begin to intermix in his stream of chakra, his frustration and anger seemed to make him heat up.

His mind was slowly becoming hazy, but he could still reign himself in. Shaking his head, he used some of the excess anger to charge at Suigetsu with an unexpectedly powered Rasengan.

The man's eyes widened, before he nimbly dodged the near decapitation blow. His side looked like it had been through a metal blender, but it had barely scratched him. The ground however, did not get off unscathed. A large scar had been torn into the ground like a wicked thunderbolt, jagged and deep enough that the bottom was too dark to see. Suigetsu quickly jumped back until he was a safe distance away, eyes widened and wheezing.

He clearly hadn't expected it, and the move was so close that it must have shaken his confidence.

Naruto smirked—that was what he had planned on.

The rest of the long drawn out match was him throwing off the man's defense around throwing kunai and Suigetsu dodging cautiously.

Finally, Karin looked up, her face was abnormally pale, and her eyes looked hollow with dark circles underneath them. She looked sickly and near death at the same time, and she breathing was so labored her body shook with each breath. "S-Sasuke-kun…"

The Uchiha looked over to his near falling teammates.

"I-I-Its ready." She finished in one quick breath.

Nodding, Sasuke called to Suigetsu. "Keep the idiot at bay." He didn't spare Naruto a glance before making his way to the seal.

Naruto's eyes widened.

The seal began to glow with a brilliant blue, and the ground shook with slight tremors.

There was an impassive look on his face as Sasuke purposely walked slowly into the glowing circle, between his kneeled teammates. Impassive, but knowing, as if he was clearly aware of how much this meant to his former teammate.

Panic ripped through the blonde.

Obito… Rin… _Minato—_

_"NO YOU DON'T!"_

Chakra erupted from his feet and Naruto tore through the air, clearing the hill in a matter of milliseconds and meeting surprised Sharingan eyes with the claret red of his own.

When he was arms length away, he gave the hardest push he could, watching Sasuke's surprised face and widened eyes as if he was living a year's time in a second.

* * *

_.. review?_


	14. South Island Theme

_I got two really long reviews that inspired me to like Naruto again. Also, the Gungrave OST just blows my mind. Anyways, last chapter! No for you, yay for me! The title is South Island Theme, if any of you ever liked Sonic, you probably have heard it before on the 1999 Sonic OVA.

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_

Naruto tumbled onto the ground in a splatter of dirt and mud.

He stood on shaky legs, the world spinning around counter clockwise as fast as his mind could keep up. He watched the world through blurry eyes like watching it through a fish bowl. He quickly stepped back to keep from losing his balance, labored breathing sucking air into his lungs. His sweaty hair drooped into his eyes, everything spun, and he recognized the feeling immediately as that of chakra drain. He cursed, smoothing the bangs out of his eyes with a clawed hand.

Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

"Naruto!"

He spun, too fast, his vision catching up with him.

Rin sprinted over, her small hands pulling at the fabric of his shirt to keep him balanced. She nearly stepped back in fright.

"—your chakra!" She sputtered, watching him dazedly, the way one would watch a god.

He tried to look at her through the corner of his eyes, taking a deep breath of the pollen-spring air around him, and gathered all his chakra from wherever he could, pulling it together.

"I'll be fine." He muttered crossly. "Where's—

The clap of clashing kunai pierced through his acute hearing, his head whipping past Rin's mocha colored hair to Obito back flipping away from another Uchiha.

He cursed, pushing Rin out of the way as he flung himself towards them.

Successfully interfering with their fight, he stood between them, slightly out of breath.

Sasuke landed gracefully some yards away, tutting as he did. "Another Uchiha, I see."

Obito, not as gracefully, skidded to a stop in the mud, brushing his face with the back of his hand and smearing mud over his cheek. "Another?"

The boy looked at Sasuke with varied expressions, before turning to Naruto. "What's this about? Who _is _he?"

"Naruto hasn't bothered to tell you?" Those sharingan spinning slow circles in his eyes... "Naruto, I'm shocked. You run off to this place and you don't even bother with the common courtesy to tell them about you?"

He growled in frustration at the reviled, mocking words.

Obito sent him a questioning look, but didn't retort.

"So this is where you go." Sasuke muttered, peering around with an air of disdain, but not letting his guard down.

"Pity, I thought you'd go somewhere a bit...exotic."

"It shouldn't concern you, at any rate." He frowned, eying the way Obito and Rin cowered slightly at his looming red tails. "You won't have very long to stay anyways."

"Why do you say that?"

"Your teammates can't keep the portal open forever. They're at chakra exhaustion already."

Sasuke snorted. "And you, yourself aren't?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, watching as the forestry blended into a scenery of towering metal bars, the stench of sewage and dripping water overlapping his senses. He opened his eyes to the enormous pair that met his gaze, two golden eyes placed above a row of razor sharp teeth the length of his arm.

"How much longer can I keep this up?" He asked softly.

A low, amused laugh met his ears. "Oh, I suppose it really depends on you. I could keep this up for _hours_..."

"With my sanity in check, if you don't mind." Naruto hissed.

With an amused swish of his tail, Kyuubi pondered this, as if mocking him. "Well, perhaps you'll just have to find out."

The bars blurred with the apple green of Konoha forests, and suddenly his reflexes caught the blade slamming towards him with a kunai, his widened eyes meeting Sasuke's sharingan, before he pushed the Uchiha off him and sent him flipping through the air.

"Haven't I told you, to never take your eyes off of your opponent?"

Naruto couldn't remember such a time off his head, but he was sure that somewhere, amongst the sealed memories of Sasuke and him, sometime before everything when the two could just _be_. When it was not a question of Naruto or Sasuke but of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Don't recall that advice." He opted for, instead. Naruto turned to Obito. "Take Rin and get out of here."

"But—"

"Just listen to me, Obito." He said sincerely, and the Uchiha paused in mid shout. Skeptically, and nonplussed, the Uchiha slowly backed away with a nod of his head, as Naruto turned, sprinting over to Rin and grabbing her hand.

They wouldn't be gone for long, he'd have to finish this as quickly as possible.

The last thing he wanted was for an idiot like Sasuke to spill everything he worked hard to keep a secret.

Sasuke watched them, poised with his blade swung beside him, but made no move to follow. "Letting your friends escape while they can?"

"What are you here for, anyways.?" Naruto hissed slowly.

The Uchiha lowered himself into position. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Blades clashed, sprang apart, and met again. Naruto at a slight disadvantage with his much closer range than Sasuke's four feet of killing machine. Naruto, however, had the unreadable element of Kyuubi's surprise attacks, the fox finding it amusing to sporadically attack the Uchiha with the overflow of red chakra that layered Naruto's skin.

It became a weapons fight, with the two dancing around each other, splattered in the mud from last night's rain fall, the spray of the earth spitting into the air like waves breaking on the ocean.

Naruto spun in the air, kunai hitting sword some twenty feet into the air, both falling into the shallow ocean of mud that they had conjured in their duel.

Neither moved, Naruto's tails flicking almost anxiously back and forth, the Jinchuuriki lowering himself to strike.

Sasuke was out of breath, chakra strained form their tousle before, and from now. Even for his pedigree lineage and expert training, chakra pools was something you were born with, and Naruto was born with the largest supply known to man.

Stamina was his main game.

Another clash and Sasuke was forced into defense, blade slashing into his pale skin, blood blossoming onto his shirt and smearing on Naruto's face.

Five tails now, gathering around Naruto's small form, flickering about with mild interest, that crazed look gathering behind Naruto's ruby red eyes.

He concentrated on slowing his breathing, and drawing the rest of his dissolving sanity into one final piece and trying to curb the burst of emotions that rumbled beneath his chest, rattling and roaring for a release that he knew would be devastating.

Sasuke leaned back, those sharingan eyes slowly turning like windmills in a light breeze, reminding Naruto of the first bloodshot look he had at the beauty of the Uchiha clan, watching Sasuke's magnificent sharingan from one of Haku's mirrors all those years ago.

Now, he could look at the spinning black dots in absolute contempt.

The cry of one thousand birds ripped open in the jaws of the sky, and hot blue light steamed from around Sasuke's hand.

The wind pulled into a spiraling ball in his own hand, dust and dirt and mud swirling around him from the rising air current that flowed around him.

The two clashed into a catastrophic mixture of wind and lightning, setting the scenery ablaze, ripping chunks of earth in deep lacerations, charring grass yellow and crisping leaves into burnt brown. Tails of molten fire lapping against the battered earth and suddenly the dry grass was dancing in flames, the wind from Naruto's Rasengan feeding the hungry fire gallons of oxygen.

Naruto raised one of his hands from his place in the mud.

A slop of wet brown earth splattered on his face, and he groaned. Christ, why did he always seem to get into these positions?

Oh, that Rasengan and Chidori smashing together. As usual, creating a mess out of the earth and setting mosts of the area on fire.

With a jolt, Naruto sprang up again.

Flames slanted in the wind, and around the charred opening Naruto searched for the heir to the Uchiha.

A rustling behind him—

—and he quickly parried a strike with a kunai.

Sasuke hadn't fared any better than he was. However, his burns and cuts were healing at an abnormally fast rate, while Sasuke's more major burns would need at least a week to heal.

He struggled, but he pushed Sasuke off of him, falling into a defensive stance.

"Why?" He asked, carefully watching his former- best-friend's face.

What had gone wrong between them?

Was he not good enough?

Sasuke snorted.

It reminded him terribly of the way Sasuke would sneer at him in their Gennin days, he'd always clown around, desperately hoping for Sakura's attention. The girl was always swooning over Sasuke, crooning about his eyes or his hair, and never seemed to bother with him. Sasuke, leaning against the bridge, Naruto's memory of how the bridge's red ocher color was so bright, Sasuke looking like a dark spot right in front of it, Sakura's lulling voice over the sound of rushing water beneath them.

Sasuke's face, as he leaned over and whispered, "Are you scared, chicken?"

Sasuke, leaning over his face, rain pattering around them silently. Sharingan eyes tracing his face, shallow breathing in his chest, before turning, and walking away.

"_Why_?!" Naruto shouted this time.

Hands clenched against his sides, red hot tails flickering behind him.

Silence met him, nothing but the smell of burning flesh and the crackle of flames.

All this time, all he and Sakura did was run away. Run away from their problems, run away from each other. In reality, it wasn't solving anything. Sasuke was still gone, the wound was still gaping and bleeding, and neither of them were doing anything to stop it. Why did they have to be so damn stupid? The answer was simple; it lay in front of the. Sasuke was never going to come home.

But Naruto had to know.

Why.

Sasuke watched him, face devoid.

His breathing came out in labored puffs, his shoulders were weak with over exertion. His chakra was low.

"Power."

The Uchiha's dark black hair like the dead of night shadowed his face.

Naruto watched him carefully, studying the lines of his shoulders, the shape of his hands.

He hadn't seen Sasuke in a long time, the Uchiha was as hidden as the moon on a cloudy night, a bright visage muddled by thousands of clouds, always there and always out of reach.

Seeing him now only achieved to bring out bad memories and old wounds.

He still hadn't kept his promise to Sakura, still hadn't brought the Uchiha home. But he realized, more and more every day, that Sasuke didn't want to go home. He wasn't a naïve adolescent being held against his will. He was a man with a full conscience with a set of his own morals. Sasuke knew exactly what he was doing, with lack of care for those he left behind, not caring if Sakura cried crystalline tears every year on the day he left, didn't care that Naruto always pleaded for him to come home, always wished that he would say yes, he would come back.

But Naruto's eyes were opened now.

There was no point in trying to change something that couldn't be changed.

And there was no point in running away anymore.

Sasuke turned, Naruto dropped his guard.

The blonde's inner turmoil faded into solemn understanding. He couldn't hurt Sasuke. He knew what had to be done—that Sharingan couldn't be left in enemy hands. But even his blood-stained hands burdened with thousands of souls couldn't lift to wedge in the final blow.

Instead, his hands met the dull crack of bone against the back of Sasuke's skull, the Uchiha tumbling into the shallow ocean of mud beneath their feet.

Naruto watched him with dark red eyes, clawed hands pulling up his best friend and dragging him back to the overwhelmingly large seal.

It pulsed with a foreign understanding, chakra from the other side feeding to keep it open.

With a frown, Naruto unceremoniously dumped the Uchiha onto the paper.

The Uchiha faded in a deafening roar and azure bright light, ground shaking on impact and a burst of chakra pounding through the landscape.

Naruto stood alone, a sobering mood blowing past him like an icy cold wind.

What was he doing here?

How long could he keep up this farce, that this was all for the purpose of science, of discovery?

Naruto couldn't fool himself, he wasn't here for breakthroughs in sealing engineering.

He was escaping his problems.

He was escaping the war that rumbled somewhere far off in the distance, lingering on the horizon, only delayed by few obstacles. He was escaping Sakura's pleading gaze, emerald eyes filled with worry and hope and _trust_, trust that he would bring back a man who had no desire to return. Escaping the fear that glazed over his village's eyes, even friends, scared for who he was—what he was—and who he would become.

–

–

–

--

"Naruto!"

Rin's distressed call echoed from far off, and his head swiveled to watch her.

Her brown eyes were probably filled with concern, he didn't need to see them to know. Obito trailed behind her some paces away, probably surveying the damage to the landscape and the bright red tails billowing int the wind behind him with more caution then she did. But Rin was a woman, and true to their sex, cared more for her friend than for herself.

He was surprised to see another blonde heard behind Obito. Apparently they were smart enough not to call ANBU to help him, the last thing he wanted to do today was explain to them _how _exactly, the training ground had ended up like this, why there was a twenty by twenty foot charred piece of paper, and the five tails that shot up into the pale blue sky.

Rin reached him first, auburn hair swinging with her movement.

She faltered slightly, eyes leaving his crimson ones to stare forlornly at the long tails behind him.

She gulped, and Naruto released his hold on Kyuubi's chakra, knowing the killer intent made her uneasy.

"S-So," She started. "What...?"

Naruto's brilliant blue eyes were focused on something far, far behind her, gaze darkening. "Just some complications."

"Some complications?" Obito scowled as he approached. "The training grounds look like the earth upturned itself and set the ground on fire. You really expect us to believe that?"

"And who was that guy?" Rin pestered.

Obito's eyes were wild with interest. "He was an Uchiha, right? I could tell, from his Sharingan!"

Naruto didn't say anything, only watching the burning paper curl into itself, ashes dusting in the wind.

"Is he—

"Obito." Rin cut him off quickly. Before hissing, "He obviously doesn't want to discuss it."

Pursing his lips in a near futile attempt to stop asking questions, Obito refrained himself.

Minato stepped closer, surveying the damage for himself with the cool eyes of someone who had seen worse.

"A training accident." he announced. "Obito, you were trying out a new katon jutsu. Rin, just seconds before that you had used a fuuton jutsu, so the moisture was taken out of the grass and set it on fire."

The Hokage stopped his alibi making process to look at the lightning slashes on the barks of the trees. "And I suppose I was trying out A-Class raiton jutsu on you all."

Naruto grinned. Yondaime's humor never failed him.

"But sensei!" Rin whined. "Why can't I do the crazy cool raiton jutsu?

Minato only sent her a wary look. "This has to be a credible story. Can you do an A-class raiton jutsu?"

Rin huffed.

"But the better question would be," Obito began slyly. "Why would you use one in a training session with your Chuunin students? Huh? Exactly. It'd be more believable if we used it as a last option when we were fighting you!"

The Hokage huffed in annoyance. "End of discussion. We're sticking with my story."

Rin sighed. "Oh, if I could make a raiton jutsu...I'd name it Chidori, just like birds."

Naruto blinked in surprise. So that's where Kakashi had gotten the name of his most renowned jutsu from.

"Naruto?" Obito watched him carefully.

"What's wrong?" Rin spoke up.

Naruto smiled at them, melancholic and somber. "Guys I—

"Ramen!" Obito grinned. "That'll cheer him up!"

Naruto faltered. He had never felt so torn before. Torn between what he wanted to do, and what he knew he had to do.

But as he watched their happy, dazzling faces, he knew that he was only delaying the inevitable.

"Guys I can't." He said, finally.

Obito's expression broke out into worry, but most of all, fear. "What? Why?"

Naruto shrugged noncommittally. "That man you saw there, he was a...former acquaintance of mine. I may have defeated him for now, but if I don't stop him, this time won't be safe anymore."

He smiled sadly. "I've realized that by going back in the past, all I'm doing will be running away from the future...running away from the place I'm supposed to be."

"But..." Rin struggled for words. "That's not fair." She whispered. "We just found you again, and your already leaving?"

"I'm sorry." He sighed. "But I don't have much choice in this. You guys have to be safe."

"We're strong!" Obito protested. "We can protect ourselves!"

"Maybe you can." Naruto pointed out. "But there are extremely powerful people in my time that are holding the very foundations of Konoha, but right now, they're probably two years old. What would happen if someone used this seal to assassinate them?"

Obito shut his mouth, tight-lipped.

"Your right." Rin's gaze fell to the muddy ground. "But we just don't want you to leave."

"Sorry guys." Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat.

"But it's not like you won't ever see me again, you'll find me again before you know it." He lied thickly.

"You mean...?" Obito's eyes widened.

"Yeah!" Naruto smiled, but to him, it felt so fake. "I'll probably be born soon, and then you guys can be Aunt Rin and Uncle Obito!"

Rin grinned shyly. "See you then, I guess."

Obito nodded.

"Hey you two squirts," Minato grinned at them. "Leave us alone for a couple minutes, okay? Your sensei has to talk to Naruto for a little bit."

Naruto watched the two children—or maybe not children, they were growing up fast—disappear past a cluster of trees, leaving him and his father alone.

"That man, earlier." Minato struggled for words. "Was he—?"

"He's from Outogakure. I'm assuming he was sent to scout out where I've been going." Naruto filled for him.

"This is rather confusing..." Yondaime smiled sheepishly. "But before you leave, I just wanted you to know..."

He looked at Naruto sincerely. "It was nice meeting you, really."

Naruto smiled. "You too, Yondaime."

Minato made a face at the name.

When Naruto looked back upon this moment in the future, he would remember how awkward those moments were, as the two struggled for the right words to say goodbye for what the both of them knew was eternity.

Naruto pulled out a scroll from one of his pockets.

He had gotten used to carrying a copy of the seal wherever he went, just in case he needed to travel to the past or future at moments notice (moments like this).

He set it down carefully, mangled sentences and fragmented words about to burst from his heart in inarticulate phrases, things he wanted to say but had to refrain himself from saying. For both of their sakes.

In fact, he should leave it at that, say goodbye as friends and comrades, let Minato wonder about the future, speculate, but never fully understand.

But he remembered Jiraiya's smooth voice, as he spoke with so much pride about his father. About how much Minato would want to see what his son had turned into. How Jiraiya's voice cracked when he spoke of how much Minato loved him, how much the Hokage had never wanted to let him go, how he held his infant son's fingers tightly before the Shinigami's jaws snapped around him.

Through the torment of emotions whirling in his chest, Naruto felt words break through the silence, breathless.

The seal was flaring between them, Naruto's back turned to the man he had come to love.

A sheen of bright blue light stretched between them like the sun's rays peaking from cracks in the clouds, speeding into the sky.

He turned around, looking over his shoulder with eyes smoldering in emotion.

"Goodbye, dad."

Minato's eyes widened, he pulled for Naruto's sleeve, yelling lost in the scream torn from the seal.

His hand stretched out for his son, but met nothing but whorls of smoke from the now smoking paper crackling noisily at his feet.

"Wait!"

His shout met the cold spring air, a pale blue sky above him.

–

–

--x--

–

–

"He's a beautiful boy," Kushina was crooning, and Minato tried to overlook her deathly pale skin, and the way her labored breathing filled the room even though she gave birth a near hour ago. Staring into his child's eyes, brilliant blue like windows into the sky (_Just like they will be in the future, the one you won't live to see, _his conscious snidely provided) he was shocked at the resemblance to him, and to the man Naruto would become one day, stumbling out of a cold spring river near the Iwa border, near twenty years in the past.

A knock interrupted his thoughts, he tore his pensive eyes away from the blinking delphinium blue gaze that watched him innocently.

He opened the door quietly.

"Kyuubi." The ANBU panted at the door to the hospital room.

Yondaime watched the man's blank rabbit mask with something akin to dawning understanding, fear, and nervousness.

As the blond Hokage closed the door behind him, he could hear Kushina's soft breath fill the sound of the room. He didn't need her to hear this now.

"Where?"

"Approximately twenty minutes away from the gate." The ANBU shifted uneasily. "We're doing the best we can, but without Jiraiya it doesn't seem that this battle will be won, sir. We—"

"Leave the worrying up to me." He said coolly. "And try to hold it off as long as you possibly can."

The ANBU nodded, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Minato opened the door quietly, listening to his wife's breathless humming. She was still panting from the birthing, her face pale with stark contrast to her fiery red hair that framed her face, cascading down one shoulder like wine-colored rivers. Sea water eyes focused on the smooth baby-soft sunshine hair growing on her sons head.

"Naruto," She smiled lovingly.

Minato clenched his fists.

And the world repeated itself.

* * *

I changed a little bit, mainly the spelling correction on the last word. I soooo meant to do that :) Sorry everyone feels like the ending was rushed. But I felt as if Rin and Obito thought that they would meet Naruto again very soon, and didn't mind the fact that he was leaving entirely too much. And yes, Rin and Obito die before the last scene. Everything else besides what I've changed is cannon.


	15. Now or Never

The mission took a shorter period of time then it should have.

Upon arriving, Naruto had tossed the scroll to an annoyed, but equally worried Tsunade at the Hokage Tower, before immediately hitting the closest shinobi bar that he could find, and promptly drowning himself in rounds of Grey Goose shots with Shikamaru and Kiba, the other two dropping out after about the sixth round. Thanks to Kyuubi's ability to regenerate his liver and cure his cirrhosis fifty times over he kept going for most of the night, until he was kicked out with the rest of the drunken ninja.

Unlike Kiba, who had his extremely hot older sister to pick him up, and Shikamaru, who passed out on the sidewalk, Naruto was sober enough to drag himself into a tree, before sprawling the night there.

The moon lit the dimming lights of a silent Konoha.

The days (or yesterdays, for it was already four in the morning) date was October eleventh, a day Naruto had conspicuously planned his mission to come home the following day, but due to the fact that the missing-nin he was sent to kill were ridiculously easy, he was back by nightfall.

At least the festivities were done.

As Naruto closed his eyes, between his reflex to throw up and Kyuubi's chakra healing him with hot slices through his abdomen, he wondered what was going on at this very hour, almost nineteen years ago…

--

--x—

--

"Minato-sama…"

Minato clutched Naruto's small, fragile hand with his own, replacing the cherubic features of the infant with the grinning visage of what he would be, many years to come.

He pointedly gave the ANBU a tired look, and he quickly disappeared to the ground to his comrades, leaving Minato alone.

Minato gazed upon the burning crescendo that gleamed in the night. He couldn't feel the hot, fanning flames, only the brisk October air around him.

Gamabunta was silent beneath him, Kyuubi's roar splitting into the air and wrenching the jaws of the sky open with such ferocity that the Earth shook with it's deafening scream. The beast's tails stretched into the stars, as if burning them to crisps. The hot red streams flickering about, almost amusedly. Minato clenched his teeth. That fucking fox…

Naruto clenched his finger with his two hands, staring up at him with the biggest watery blue eyes. So pure…so pale they were almost the color of a baby's breath flower. His face split into a grin, the pudgy cheeks rosy tinted; maybe from the fact that he was born a mere _hour_ago, or because of the brisk air outside.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto." He muttered. "You probably knew all along, didn't you? The hell I'd send you to, my scorned legacy I'd leave you with. You'll hate me, I'm sure. Maybe you even hated me when we met…all those years ago."

Minato drifted off, pointedly remembering the scant years he spent with his son, grasping to them so tightly his mindscape was flashing through each and every smile.

"I'll never know, will I?" He sighed.

He was running out of time.

Naruto closed his eyes against his father's warmth, snuggled next to him as if it was prenatally ingrained into him that his father was his protector. But was he really? What was he doing, if not giving the beast his son?

"But I love you." He whispered to the infant. "So much. I knew from the day I met you, at the Iwa river, that I loved you. But I had no idea who you were. Just like you'll never know who I am." He paused. "Until your older, I suppose."

The baby gurgled, and Minato spent most of his time trying to believe that the infant knew what he was saying, and was agreeing with him. But Kushina was the one who fabricated those kinds of fairy tales, and the Yondaime was well aware that Naruto was probably only doing that because he was hungry.

Again, Kyuubi's cry shook the night, and Minato knew that he was upon his final hour.

But he couldn't bring himself to feel saddened for himself, only for what he was now certain he would be doing to Naruto.

"Boss…" Gamabunta called worriedly.

He shook himself out of his stupor. "Naruto," He began again to the infant, knowing that he couldn't understand but did so anyways, "I—

"You know,"

Said a voice to his left, rather conversationally.

"I doubt I can understand you, I'm sixty minutes old, after all."

Minato's eyes widened.

And Naruto only smiled.

* * *

_You'll kill me for sure. _

_Here's the premises of this ending...slash beginning...slash...whatever. The first part (before the dashed line) is the beginning to CAS's unofficial sequel and companion fic, World's End Rhapsody--which is posted already. The second part (after the dashed line) is the ending of both CAS and World's end Rhapsody. It's explained in WER. So see you there. _


End file.
